New book uncovers corruption at every layer of a community.
He wrote about vigilantes during the Covid lockdowns.
What could possibly go wrong?
Unleashed is investigative writer Grant McLachlan’s Kafkaesque account of a community often at the centre of many New Zealand corruption scandals.
Grant was researching the network at Rodney District Council and Auckland Transport implicated in New Zealand’s biggest corruption trial. Discovering the links between politicians, officials, and vested interests triggered a series of attempts to silence Grant. Targeting his routine, there were nine attempted stitch ups by politicians, their partners, and prig pensioners, relying on their connections with local police to prefer their version of events.
The more that politicians and officials obstructed, however, the more that Grant uncovered.
Whether it was the Pacifika dawn raids of the 1970s, Muldoon’s Orewa speeches of the 1980s, Don Brash’s Orewa speeches of the 2000s, the Auckland ‘Super City’, or the infiltration of Cameron Slater and Jordan Williams, Unleashed reveals the sordid details of dirty politics spanning generations in this gonzo-styled farce.
Demonstrating with documents and footage, Grant argues:
“For my first book, Sparrow, I interviewed war veterans and investigated war crimes. For this second book, Unleashed, I investigated Boomers and vigilantes. The degree of malice was surprisingly similar.”
Grant has created a website for the book, which also includes additional material referred to in the book:
"There is only so much I could fit in the book so I have needed to either document it on my website or keep my powder dry."
What's in the book?
Unleashed delves into decades of political scheming, covering:
New Zealand's biggest corruption case, involving Rodney District Council and Auckland Transport;
Why, for the first time in NZ history, the government appointed commissioners to run Rodney District Council;
How Rodney District became part of the Auckland Council ‘Super City’;
Ross Meurant's police and political careers;
Frank Gill, Rob Muldoon, Pacifika dawn raids, Don Brash, race relations, and Orewa speeches;
Colin Craig, the Exclusive Brethren, Chris Penk, and religious political positioning;
The Bevan Chuang/Len Brown scandal;
The Rachel MacGregor/Colin Craig/Jordan Williams scandal;
The Kim Dotcom/John Banks/John Key scandal;
The Cameron Slater/Matt Blomfield scandal;
The David Garrett & Rodney Hide resignations;
The Cameron Slater/Simon Lusk/Mark Mitchell scandal;
The Cameron Slater/Simon Lusk/Greg Sayers campaign to roll Penny Webster;
The Greg Sayers/Beth Houlbrooke scandal;
John Key and his network of schemers;
Dodgy decisions from the council’s planning, roading, biodiversity, animal management, and governance;
Dodgy police conduct, ranging from the Louis Nicholas cases, Operation Austin, IPCA conduct, to Warkworth Police;
The chambers of commerce/council rackets;
The NZ Taxpayers’ Union/Act Party racket;
Media rackets;
Rackets involving the council and ratepayers’ groups; and
The money and influence in Auckland's - and New Zealand's - corridors of power.
If there was a political scandal over the past 20 years, the chances are that there was a connection with the Rodney area.
Unleashed: Sex, rackets & vigilantes in New Zealand’s most corrupted community is published by Klaut Media.
ISBN: 978-0473720629, 9780473717742
Published: 17 June 2024.
792 pages.
Available in paperback and e-book, it is distributed worldwide by Amazon and Google.
For immediate release
If you’d like more information about Unleashed, or to schedule an interview with Grant, please email him: grant@klaut.media