Telecom 'wins' Roger award

A panel of activists has named Telecom as the "winner" of their annual Roger Award for the "worst trans-national corporation".

The results of the award for the company the judges say had "the most negative impact in New Zealand" during 2004 were announced last night.

Electricity and gas company Contact Energy took second place.

The judges said Telecom, New Zealand's largest listed company, won because: "The massive profit figures which this company posts year by year are a national scandal... This is a company whose name is a byword for the failure of privatisation."

Meanwhile, Contact had "run an ideological campaign against Kyoto (Treaty) and the use of renewable energy resources... running a crusade to convince the public that coal fired power stations are the only option for a secure future energy supply," the judges said in a statement.

Forest owner Ernslaw One came third because "it is having a big impact on workers... Maori on the East Coast especially - with thousands of job losses projected".

The Roger Award is organised by Campaign Against Foreign Control of Aotearoa and free-trade opponents GATT Watchdog.

The criteria are "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".

The judges are veteran Auckland activist John Minto, documentary maker Alister Barry and peace activists Maire Leadbeater and Edwina Hughes.

- NZPA