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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

Luxon panics and resorts to old MMP tricks

Fifty years after a fringe party decided Auckland Central, the Prime Minister is reaching for the same panic Richard Prebble once rode into Parliament.

Column

Grant McLachlan

5 days ago3 min read

The problem with MMP is Luxon, not MMP

A Prime Minister who can't manage his own coalition wants voters to fix his problem for him.

Column

Grant McLachlan

Aug 64 min read

Will backlash against donors decide this election?

Imagine gloating about donating tens of thousands of dollars to National, ACT and the Taxpayers' Union. Imagine paying thousands more for a selfie at the Prime Minister's table. Then imagine becoming the reason voters can't stand the government you paid for.

Feature

Grant McLachlan

Jul 1211 min read

How noise drowns democracy

How political noise is engineered to silence debate and freeze the vote.

Feature

Grant McLachlan

Jun 289 min read

The game of candidate chess in Hawke’s Bay that could decide this year’s election

This election, Hawke’s Bay won’t be the sideshow. It could even be the main event.

Hawke's Bay Today

Grant McLachlan - Hawke's Bay Today - Column

Jun 271 min read

Can the left govern on 64 seats — or has the poll missed the overhang again?

The latest 1News Verian poll shows a left bloc able to form a government without New Zealand First. Two things it does not model — the overhang building in National’s electorates, and a rising Opportunity Party — could each hand the balance of power straight back to Winston Peters.

Research

Grant McLachlan

Jun 238 min read

Silly buggers: what game is New Zealand First playing in the electorates?

New Zealand First is parachuting household names into seats it has little hope of winning outright. Work out why, and you start to see how Winston Peters could decide the next government one electorate at a time.

Column

Grant McLachlan

Jun 1511 min read

An independent anti-corruption commission: who keeps blocking it?

Four parties have demanded one for three decades. Journalists and watchdogs back them. So why does an anti-corruption commission never survive a coalition negotiation?

Feature

Grant McLachlan

Jun 1311 min read

Why does one poll count and another vanish?

When TOP recently cracked five percent, the newsrooms that live off polling looked the other way — just as they do when a rival wins an award.

Research

Grant McLachlan

Jun 86 min read

Who is the state really housing?

How New Zealand’s great housing experiment turned from sheltering the poor to subsidising the people who profit from them.

Feature

Grant McLachlan

May 3010 min read

Cutting themselves out: how two Wellington ministers engineered their own unemployment

It started with the civil servants. Then the cafés, landlords, contractors and small businesses. Willis and Bishop spent thirty months gutting Wellington. On 7 November, every Wellingtonian they hurt gets to vote — and the arithmetic is unkind.

PERSONA NON GRATA

Grant McLachlan - Column

May 197 min read

Immigration is the economy, stupid!

“It’s the economy, stupid” is a phrase coined by Bill Clinton's campaign strategist James Carville in 1992, highlighting that voters prioritize their personal financial situation over all other issues. In New Zealand, immigration has been the driver of economic growth.

Column

Grant McLachlan

May 174 min read

The overhang trap: How National could lose power to its own coalition partners

We could have an 'overhang' Parliament of 130 MPs if National retains more electorates than its party vote would allow.

Research

Grant McLachlan

Apr 2029 min read

Two bills that could end New Zealand’s dirty politics era — if politicians have the courage to pass them

I have documented corruption and abuse of electoral systems. These two bills provide the tools to fix it.

Research

Grant McLachlan

Mar 299 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 6, 202531 min read