Universities, government agencies and State Owned Enterprises - each with their own teams of spin doctors - are spending hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars on lobbying firms.
An RNZ investigation shows lobbying firms are providing SOEs with political intelligence on MPs, including their attributes, vulnerabilities and personal and work lives.
In one case they advise a public sector CEO to stage an exit from a select committee to avoid the media.
This story is part of a series on the lobbying industry by RNZ investigative journalist Guyon Espiner.
He spoke to Corin Dann.
