Thursday, May 25, 2006
2006 Dick Awards
Nominations for the 2006 DICK (Destructive Industry Connected to Killing) NZ Awards and the 'Guided Missiles and Misguided Men' Awards for Government Politicians are now open.
The 2006 DICK NZ Awards are your opportunity to say what you think about the companies who profit from bloodshed and war, and the politicians who support it. This information is available online at
http://www.converge.org.nz/pma/dick06.htm
Background to the Awards
Since 1998, the Defence Industry Committee of New Zealand has presented Awards for Excellence at the annual get-together of the NZ Defence Industry Association, the lobby group for companies that profit from bloodshed and war. The criteria for their awards are a mystery - are they for the company whose products have caused the most death and destruction? the company which has had the biggest public subsidy for private profit? the company which has contracts with the most oppressive governments and armed forces around the world?
There is no mystery about the DICK NZ Awards. They recognise the reality of the business of the NZ 'defence' industry. First held in 2001, the DICK NZ Awards returned last year and they are now an annual event.
And there is no mystery about the 'Guided Missiles and Misguided Men' Awards for Government Politicians either - they are awarded to those who by their words and/or actions support bloodshed and war. The name for these Awards is from a statement by Martin Luther King, Jr: "we have guided missiles and misguided men".
Criteria for the DICK NZ Awards
You can nominate any company that is involved in weapons related production, military supplies, or military contracts. The company can be NZ owned, an NZ subsidiary of an overseas company that is involved with weapons production or military contracts here in Aotearoa, or a company that is involved in weapons production or military contracts overseas and is involved in some other way in the NZ economy. The company nominated will have been involved in their offensive activity during 2005 or in 2006 before the closing date.
Please include as much supporting detail as you can with your nomination for each company - cuttings from newspapers or magazines, notes from a radio or TV programme, printed web pages, and so on. If you don't have much in the way of supporting information, please don't let that stop you from making a nomination.
Criteria for the 'Guided Missiles and Misguided Men' Awards for Government Politicians
You can nominate any government politician (including politicians from parties that are in coalition with Labour) who by their words and/or actions support bloodshed and war. The words or actions for which you are nominating the politician will have taken place during 2005 or in 2006 before the closing date. If you are nominating a politician for something they said, please include the direct quote together with the source of it. If you are nominating a politician for something they did, please include as much supporting detail as you can.
The DICK NZ Awards and 'Guided Missiles and Misguided Men' Awards for Government Politicians are organised by No WARP! (Network Opposed to Weapons and Related Production), for more information write to No WARP! c/o Peace Movement Aotearoa, PO Box 9314, Wellington or email <nowarp@xtra.co.nz>
# posted by gareth @ 4:29 PM 
