\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

Shield or weapon? Why the new stalking law arrived already broken

Today, 26 May 2026, a new stalking offence comes into force. The bar has been lowered, the police given new powers to dispose of complaints without a court, and the records kept selectively. What could possibly go wrong?

Column

Grant McLachlan

20 hours ago9 min read

The kids who lit matches in the mine

A motorway extension, a mortgagee golf-course sale, a $40,250 donation and a rezoning bid — all inside the same fortnight. Horncastle and Brooks aren't the canary in the mine. They're the kids who lit matches inside the underground network Auckland built.

Column

Grant McLachlan

3 days ago7 min read

Pegasus Brief — Read the room

The Pegasus story breaks into the national mainstream. Residents are organised. Wolfbrook stays silent. And the public record on the people behind Wolfbrook is worth a closer look.

Research

Grant McLachlan

4 days ago6 min read

Pegasus Brief — The two rejected bids

Two groups bid to keep Pegasus operating as a golf course. One had local skin in the game. The other had twenty years of golf-industry expertise. The receivers preferred the bid that erased the course. Why didn't anyone put the two bids together?

Research

Grant McLachlan

4 days ago5 min read

A quagmire on a swampy battlefield: What Wolfbrook actually walked into at Pegasus

Two of New Zealand's premier residential golf courses collapsed twenty minutes apart in 2026. One is being cannibalised by a developer who has just donated to National. The other is in liquidation. The model is broken. The fix starts at Pegasus.

Research

Grant McLachlan

6 days ago24 min read

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