The Roger Award For The Worst Transnational Corporation Operating in New Zealand was an annual media campaign run since 1997 by two activist organisations, Campaign Against Foreign Control of Aotearoa and GATT Watchdog. The winners were chosen by a group of academics, activists, businesspeople and trade unionists.[1]
In April 2018 it was announced the 2016 Roger Award would be the final award, due to a declining number of nominations.[2]
The awards bear the name of former New Zealand Finance Minister Sir Roger Douglas, who introduced far reaching market-oriented reforms in the 1980s (also taken into account during the naming decision were New Zealand Business Roundtable director Roger Kerr, the verb "to roger", and the term "Jolly Roger").[3] [4] These changes, reinforced by successor Ruth Richardson in the 1990s, made the country's economy one of the most open in the world. Through this period, the role and profile of multinational companies increased. The privatisation of Tranz Rail and Telecom New Zealand, companies that have won multiple Roger Awards, remain particularly controversial - since being given their first awards, they have been re-nationalised and unbundled respectively.
The Roger Award has been used as the model for similar campaigns overseas.
The winner was selected by evaluation of the judges made on four criteria, "Economic dominance"; "Impact on people"; "Environmental damage and abuse of animals"; and "Political interference". This last criterion was judged on the basis of whether the nominee is "running an ideological crusade".
Having "won" on three occasions, Tranz Rail was inducted into the 'Hall of Shame' in 2003. It has ceased to exist having been absorbed by Toll NZ, a two-time nominee, and subsequently nationalised as KiwiRail by the Fifth Labour Government of New Zealand. Telecom New Zealand was nominated each year since 1997, and has since been succeeded by Chorus Limited and Spark New Zealand.
| Year | Winner | Runners Up | Other Finalists | Special Awards | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1997 | Tranz Rail, New Zealand's largest rail operator [5] | ||||
| 1998 | Monsanto Company, a US-based manufacturer of agricultural products [6] | ||||
| 1999 | TransAlta, a Canadian power company [7] [8] | ||||
| 2000 | Tranz Rail [9] | ||||
| 2001 | Carter Holt Harvey, a timber company [10] [11] | ||||
| 2002 | Tranz Rail [12] [13] | Tranz Rail becomes the first occupant of the Hall of Shame [14] | |||
| 2003 | Juken Nissho, a timber company [15] | ||||
| 2004 | Telecom New Zealand, New Zealand's largest telco [16] | ||||
| 2005 | Bank of New Zealand and Westpac, banks[17] [18] | ||||
| 2006 | Progressive Enterprises, the largest supermarket operator in New Zealand[19] [20] | ||||
| 2007 | Telecom New Zealand[21] | Joint runners-up: British American Tobacco and Spotless | |||
| 2008 | British American Tobacco[22] [23] [24] | Runner-up: Rio Tinto NZ | Other finalists: ANZ Bank, Contact Energy, GlaxoSmithKline, Infratil, McDonald's, Telecom New Zealand | Business New Zealand awarded inaugural Accomplice Award | |
| 2009 | ANZ Bank[25] [26] [27] | Runner-up: Rio Tinto NZ | Other finalists: Bank of New Zealand, Infratil, Newmont, Rymans, Telecom New Zealand, Transpacific and Westpac. | Accomplice Award: Auckland City Council and its officials | |
| 2010 | Warner Brothers [28] | ||||
| 2011 | Rio Tinto Alcan [29] [30] | Accomplice Award: the New Zealand Government (in its own right and accompanying both Sajo Oyang and Telecom). | |||
| 2012 | Taejin Fisheries [31] | Runners-up: Rio Tinto Alcan, King Salmon | Finalists: The four Australian-owned banks collectively (ANZ, ASB, Bank of New Zealand & Westpac), Insurance Australia Group, Newmont Waihi Gold, Taejin Fisheries Co. Ltd, and Vodafone. | Accomplice Award: The New Zealand Government, United FisheriesPeople's Choice Award: British American Tobacco | |
| 2013 | Rio Tinto[32] | Finalists: ANZ, Chorus, IAG Insurance Group, Imperial Tobacco, Rio Tinto, Sky City Casino and Talent 2. | There were several nominations for the Accomplice Award, all for the Government | ||
| 2014 | ANZ Bank[33] | IAG/State Insurance | Finalists: ANZ Bank, British American Tobacco NZ, Coca-Cola Amatil, IAG/State Insurance, PGG Wrightson, and Rio Tinto.[34] | Food & Grocery Council | |
| 2015 | IAG/State Insurance[35] | ||||
| 2016 | Youi[36] | IAG/State Insurance |