Roger Awards open

16 comments on “Roger Awards open ”

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1. the sprout 1

   17 June 2008 at 9:42 am

   my money’s on Spotless – corporate leaders in ripping of clients and shafting their employees.
2. Brett Dale 2

   17 June 2008 at 10:01 am

   I might vote for Kiwibank, here is a company that advertises themselves as being for the little guy. Yet they gave the contract for their ATM machines to “Diebold” the company whose machines may of helped rigged two elections in the USA.
3. Tane 3

   17 June 2008 at 10:07 am

   Kiwibank is not a transnational corporation.
4. Stephen 4

   17 June 2008 at 10:13 am

   Why DOES it have to be a transnational? I know this would open it up to the dairy down the road, but still.
5. Tane 5

   17 June 2008 at 10:15 am

   Fair point. I guess cos it’s run by CAFCA and GATT Watchdog, and that’s kind of their focus.

   Their Wikipedia page might help explain why that’s the case.

   The awards bear the name of former New Zealand Finance Minister Sir Roger Douglas, who instigated radical market-oriented reforms in the 1980s (also involved in the naming decision were New Zealand Business Roundtable director Roger Kerr, the verb “to roger”, and the term “Jolly Roger”).[2][3] 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 privatisations of Tranz Rail and Telecom, companies that have won Roger Awards, remain particularly controversial.

   http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roger_awards
6. Stephen 6

   17 June 2008 at 10:32 am

   Ta. I suppose TNCs can move around a lot i.e. when something goes wrong, or the government doesn’t do what the TNC wants it to, they can just up sticks and leave (or just threaten to), which I would imagine is one explanation of why they behave so badly (if indeed they do, which seems to be the implication).
7. Patrick 7

   17 June 2008 at 10:41 am

   Brett, is that seriously the worst thing you can think of about Kiwibank? Yeah, sure, Diebold are not a nice company, and they do make some very flakey technology, and their election machines have been proven to be exploitable. However, it’s a *big* stretch to accuse them of electoral fraud. I’d simply say they are selling a substandard product, and some schmuck at Kiwibank made the unfortunate decision to sign the contract. In the context of the banking industry, buying Diebold ATMs is hardly controversial.

   But you do raise a good point, what about the banking industry?

   Sure Spotless are fantastic at ripping off both their clients and their staff, but what about the good folk at ANZ National? Surely we cannot forget them!

   These are the same people who are outsourcing jobs at breakneck pace, all the while providing a rapidly decreasing level of customer satisfaction.

   Okay, so my money is on Spotless as well, but if you are looking at the banking industry, I don’t think you can get any worse than ANZ National.
8. Felix 8

   17 June 2008 at 11:37 am

   Why DOES it have to be a transnational? I know this would open it up to the dairy down the road, but still.

   And the dairy mega-company up the road…

   Oh and yes, I too thank Brett for bringing up the banking “industry” – ANZ National are my pick of the banks too.
9. erikter 9

   17 June 2008 at 11:42 am

   I would nominate IRD, a well-known domestic organisation, for getting its sticky fingers in my wallet far too often!
10. slightlyrighty 10

    17 June 2008 at 12:04 pm

    My vote is for Spotless.

    I could not beleive the WCC when it allowed spotless to take over the cafe at Wgtn Zoo which had hitherto been very well and very tastefully run by Eva Dixon’s.

    The standards there have gone through the floor. Its menu is laugable and its food the usual mediocrity.
11. ropata 11

    17 June 2008 at 4:44 pm

    Oil companies, banks, utilities, property speculators have scammed the NZ public since at least 1984 but we have been beaten into such apathetic submission that we (govt included) lack the fortitude to hold them to account. Now the downturn is biting surely it’s time to stem the obscene wealth transfer from the many to the few. It has been noted that economies which have unshackled themselves from oil companies have suddenly found themselves much richer and more self-sufficient. The current pain may afford the opportunity to return NZ society to a more caring, less US based model. I hope there is a grassroots rejection of rogernomics and politicians will actually do something that helps people instead of global corporations.
12. erikter 12

    17 June 2008 at 7:05 pm

    “The current pain may afford the opportunity to return NZ society to a more caring, less US based model.”

    Like what? What country do you have in mind? Cuba?
13. ropata 13

    17 June 2008 at 8:20 pm

    hello erikter, no I’m thinking of the New Zealand model actually.
14. Rex Widerstrom 14

    17 June 2008 at 8:55 pm

    I second erikter’s nomination! Since the IRD manages to get it’s hands in your pockets even when you’re overseas through cosy “reciprocal arrangements” they must surely qualify as a multinational! Wonder if they’d accept a nomination?
15. Swampy 15

    19 June 2008 at 4:29 pm

    Who takes any notice of the Roger Awards?

    They are judged by, and therefore condemned by their association with, people who make even Jim Anderton (of 2% electoral support) look moderate.
16. Swampy 16

    19 June 2008 at 4:35 pm

    The awards bear the name of Sir Roger Douglas. The Wikipedia entry was surprisingly moderate compared with the line being parrotted by the proponents of the Roger Awards. Oops, they still live in the past while the rest of us got on with our lives.

    But let’s get some perspective. These are not awards. Awards are made for positive achievements. The “Roger Award” proponents are looking for a platform to create divisiveness and conflict in society. Call them something else and keep “Awards” for people who want to celebrate positive achievement in society.

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