KEY POINTS:
National Party leader Don Brash is to talk to his lawyers about allowing Nicky Hager's book on the party to be published.
Hager says his book contains damaging new revelations about National party leaders and will prove that Dr Brash and his closest advisers repeatedly misled the public.
Dr Brash last week got an interim injunction preventing the publication of emails he said were stolen from his personal computer.
That prevented Hager publishing his book, which is partly sourced from emails he said were leaked to him by disgruntled National insiders.
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Hager said the book was based on interviews with National Party people and a range of documents, which included emails.
"It's not really focused on Don Brash's personal emails or his correspondence with his constituents, which he was initially concerned about."
To remove reference to the emails in his book would require a complete rewrite, he said.
He told National Radio it would be the "right decision" for Dr Brash to lift the injunction.
"As soon as he lifts the injunction I'll be thrilled, and we can all look at it."
Dr Brash told National Radio today the injunction was not aimed at Hager's book, which he had not been aware of until yesterday.
He wanted to get the "accusations out on the table" but said he would like to find some way of doing that while protecting the privacy of people who had emailed him.
He hoped to talk to his legal counsel today.
"If we can find a way of getting Mr Hager's book out on the table where daylight can be exposed to it without compromising their privacy, I'd be very keen to find a way of doing it."
Dr Brash said he did not have a copy of Hager's book and to look at it could constitute a breach of his own injunction.
Either he, or legal counsel, or someone else on his behalf would have to look at the book before deciding whether the injunction should be lifted.
Hager said he would not let Dr Brash and his legal advisers "vet" the book before deciding whether it should be published, so would not be giving them a copy.
Dr Brash said whether the injunction could be lifted today would depend on advice from his legal counsel.
"I want Mr Hager's accusations to be out there in daylight where people can assess them for their merit.
"The last time I saw an accusation by Nicky Hager was the one he had in the Sunday Star-Times accusing the SIS of infiltrating the Maori Party. Helen Clark, with whom I don't normally agree, described that as a work of fiction," Dr Brash said.
Hager said his book was written with the help of six National Party sources concerned about its direction and tactics.
"I can certainly think of six political enemies I've got," Dr Brash said.
"I cannot think of six political enemies who've also had legitimate access to my private correspondence."
Exclusive Brethren
Hager said his book would show Dr Brash worked with the Exclusive Brethren, the secretive sect which ran an initially covert campaign against Labour at the last election, for longer than he had admitted.
It would also show that leadership contender John Key knew about the Brethren's campaign, despite his denials, Hager said.
Mr Key said Hager was wrong. He had only limited contact with the sect and did not know about its campaigning.
Hager said his book provided "undeniable evidence" that everything Dr Brash said about the Exclusive Brethren was untrue.
"He was completely aware and well-informed and in discussion with them for many months before the election."
Dr Brash had known at least four months before the election about the seven pamphlets the Brethren had circulated around the country.
Dr Brash said to the best of his recollection, he heard about the pamphlets only one month before the election.
He said he never saw any emails from the Exclusive Brethren before the election.
Hager also said election spending issues was also covered in his book.
As the controversy unfolds, a New Zealand Herald-DigiPoll has shown 17.3 per cent of Aucklanders favour Mr Key as prime minister, putting him only 1.5 percentage points behind the 18.8 per cent who prefer Dr Brash as prime minister.
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Dr Brash said the poll would have been done before the saga over Hager's book.
"I am mindful of that poll of course but I'm not proposing to resign today," Dr Brash said.
"At the end of the day the question of who the leader of the National Party is is a question for the National Party caucus. And for the moment I don't sense any mood for change."
- NZPA
What's in the book
* The political strategies behind Don Brash's Orewa speech on race.
* National's links to American neo-conservatives and their input into the party's election campaign - "kept secret and denied".
* Hidden links with industry lobby groups, which helped to write speeches.
* National's big donors.
* The election advice given by right-wing Australian strategy consultants Crosby/Textor.
* A range of possible breaches of election finance laws and parliamentary spending rules, which National has kept secret.
* Documents showing top party figures knew about the Exclusive Brethren pamphlet drop months before Dr Brash admitted it.
