\ˈklāʊt\™

Publishing • Production • Communications

Showreel

Books

Unleashed

Sex, rackets & vigilantes in

New Zealand's most corrupted community.

He wrote about vigilantes during the Covid lockdowns.

What could possibly go wrong?

How a clique used their council and police connections to try to silence an investigative writer through a series of stitch ups. This Kafkaesque farce delves into a community often at the centre of many New Zealand corruption scandals.

Matakana War Memorial heritage application

Fix Hill Street Now: TVNZ Gutsful episode

Fix Hill Street Now: Visit the campaign website

Matakana War Memorial heritage application

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Welcome to Klaut.

Klaut is the publishing, production, and communications company of Grant McLachlan – a New Zealand-based writer. Grant is a prolific investigative writer of fiction and non-fiction for newspapers, books, and screen.

A former hearings commissioner, barrister, and solicitor, Grant has worked in the public and private sectors, ranging from a Parliamentary researcher and campaign director to a planner and infrastructure specialist. His columns in New Zealand newspapers and his pro-bono work has assisted many people involved in disputes with central and local government authorities.

On this site you will find links to his current and past work. There are several projects in development so please watch this space.

Sparrow

A Chronicle of Defiance

An epic account of The Sparrows

- Battle of Britain gunners who defended Timor as part of Sparrow Force in 1942.

It is the story of Charlie McLachlan's war: a triumph of stubborn Scottish defiance and laconic Aussie genius over the relentless violence of man and nature. Charlie survives and bears witness to some of the landmark days of World War II.

Media Coverage

Democracy demands more than blind obedience

Road safety campaigner Geoff Upson raised valid concerns, yet the comment section revealed a disturbing civic illiteracy about how democracy actually works.

Column

Grant McLachlan

Dec 153 min read

The Long Road to Parihaka: A Writer's Journey

I never set out to become a writer. Like most paths that matter, it chose me rather than the other way around.

Column

Grant McLachlan

Dec 108 min read

New Zealand's Property-Industrial Complex: A democratic warning

In his 1961 farewell address, President Eisenhower warned America about the military-industrial complex. In 2024, New Zealand faces its own existential threat: the property-industrial complex has consumed our democracy whole.

PERSONA NON GRATA

Grant McLachlan - Column

Dec 94 min read

Would they go to jail? Comparing New Zealand's corruption gap with Australia's integrity framework

New Zealand lacks the robust anti-corruption infrastructure that exists across every Australian state and at the federal level.

Feature

Grant McLachlan - Column

Dec 733 min read

The clandestine campaign to dismantle Jacindamania

The falls from grace of Helen Clark and Jacinda Ardern were not the result of democratic whim or policy failure, but rather the outcome of sophisticated, coordinated campaigns orchestrated by a network of right-wing political operatives who maintained the illusion of independent action while working in concert.

Feature

Grant McLachlan

Dec 631 min read

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