27 April 2005

The Roger Award

For the worst transnational corporation operating in Aotearoa/New Zealand

The 2004 Winner(s) will be announced on

Monday, May 2nd 7.30pm

Knox Hall, 28 Bealey Ave, Christchurch

The announcement will be made by the chief judge, John Minto, of Auckland

The other speakers will be:

Sue Newberry, a senior accountancy lecturer at the University of Canterbury, who will present her Financial Analysis of the winner(s); and

Bill Rosenberg, of the Campaign Against Foreign Control of Aotearoa, who will speak on the Overseas Investment Bill, which is currently before Parliament. There will also be a screening of a short preview of "The Last Resort", a documentary currently being made by Wellington film makers about the issue of rural land sales to foreigners.

The 2004 finalists are: Ernslaw One, McDonalds, Telecom, Westpac, Toll, Mitsubishi, and Contact Energy.

The judges are: John Minto, veteran Auckland activist and National Chairperson of the Quality Public Education Coalition; Alister Barry, renowned documentary maker, of Wellington; Maire Leadbeater, a veteran peace and social justice activist, from Auckland; and Edwina Hughes, the coordinator of Peace Movement Aotearoa, in Wellington.

The criteria for judging are by assessing the transnational that has the most negative impact in New Zealand in each or all of the following fields: unemployment, monopoly, profiteering, abuse of workers/conditions, political interference, environmental damage, cultural imperialism, impact on tangata whenua, running an ideological crusade, tax dodging, impact on women, impact on health and safety of workers, and the public.

For full details of the Roger Award, go to www.cafca.org.nz and follow the Links. Previous winners: Tranz Rail (three times), Juken Nissho, Carter Holt Harvey, Monsanto and TransAlta.

The Roger Award is organised by the Christchurch-based groups, Campaign Against Foreign Control of Aotearoa and GATT Watchdog and is supported by Christian World Service.

ENDS

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