Cathy Odgers

Cathy Odgers is a New Zealand-born, Hong Kong-based former blogger and lawyer who is best known for running a smear campaign against the head of the New Zealand Serious Fraud Office.[1][2] She published the Cactus Kate blog,[3][4] and wrote the fortnightly Cactus Kate column in The Dominion Post from 2006 to 2009.

Cathy Odgers
NationalityNew Zealand
Other namesCactus Kate
Occupation(s)Blogger, columnist, lawyer
Known forCactus Kate blog

In 2009, Odgers was declared one of New Zealand's "hottest singles" by The Sunday Star-Times.[5]

In 2011, it was reported in that Odgers was expected to be approved as a list candidate for the ACT party,[6] however she was not included on ACT's eventual party list for the 2011 general election.[7]

In 2013, Odgers was part of a group of three pranksters who taped New Zealand flags on the house of America's Cup defender Oracle Team USA principal Larry Ellison in San Francisco, as an act of support for Emirates Team New Zealand.[8]

Dirty Politics controversy
Main article: Dirty Politics

In 2014, private conversations between Odgers, political commentator Matthew Hooton, and blogger Cameron Slater were published in the book Dirty Politics by investigative journalist Nicky Hager. The conversations include an exchange in which Odgers suggests that if the address for Hager is published he may come to physical harm. Odgers subsequently wrote a blog post that included Hager's address that was then published on Slater's blog.[9]

I've done a post for Saturday on whale blog as can't run myself as too close to work. The leaks he is involved with include tens of thousands of rich Chinese. Mainland and HK. It would be a disaster if they all knew where he lived. He may even need police protection. ... Chop chop for Nick.

— Cathy Odgers[10]

Odgers also helped plan a campaign against members of the Maritime Union of New Zealand during the 2011 Ports of Auckland industrial dispute in which port management leaked a union member's personnel file.[11]

Serious Fraud Office controversy

Soon after the release of Dirty Politics, Odgers' employer confirmed she was no longer working for them "by mutual consent".[12] Mark Hotchin allegedly paid Odgers to run a smear campaign against the head of the Serious Fraud Office and the Financial Markets Authority, while Hotchin was being investigated by said authorities.[13][14] This led to the Minister of Justice Judith Collins losing her job.[15]

References
  1. Nippert, Matt (31 August 2014). "All the financier's men". Sunday Star-Times. Retrieved 6 September 2014.
  2. Bilby, Lynley (31 August 2014). "Judith Collins resigns: The money men and how they toppled her". Herald on Sunday. Retrieved 31 August 2014.
  3. "Cathy's Blog". DPF Wikiblog. 8 May 2005.
  4. Bennett, Adam (14 August 2014). "Dirty Politics: Who are the key players?". New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 31 August 2014.
  5. "New Zealand's Hottest Singles". The Sunday Star-Times. 10 January 2009..
  6. Young, Audrey (25 June 2011). "'Cactus Kate' may push Heather Roy to quit". New Zealand Herald.
  7. Act party 2011 candidate list announced Archived 2012-07-23 at archive.today ACT party website. 28 Aug 2011.
  8. "Kiwis flag ninjas: 'Our getaway plan was running really, really fast'". NZ Herald. 18 September 2013. Retrieved 18 September 2013.
  9. "Bloggers revealed Hager's address". New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 17 August 2014.
  10. Hager, Nicky (2014). Dirty politics : how attack politics is poisoning New Zealand's political environment (First ed.). Craig Potton Publishing. pp. 91–92. ISBN 1927213363.
  11. Hager, Nicky (2014). Dirty politics : how attack politics is poisoning New Zealand's political environment (First ed.). Craig Potton Publishing. pp. 89–90. ISBN 1927213363.
  12. Bilby, Lynley (31 August 2014). "Judith Collins resigns: The money men and how they toppled her". Herald on Sunday. Retrieved 31 August 2014.
  13. Nippert, Matt (31 August 2014). "All the financier's men". Sunday Star-Times. Retrieved 6 September 2014.
  14. Bilby, Lynley (31 August 2014). "Judith Collins resigns: The money men and how they toppled her". Herald on Sunday. Retrieved 31 August 2014.
  15. Bilby, Lynley (31 August 2014). "Judith Collins resigns: The money men and how they toppled her". Herald on Sunday. Retrieved 31 August 2014.
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