Sir Rod Drury returns New Zealander of the Year award after Stuff investigation
Friday, 8 May 2026
Three women who alleged unwanted sexual contact by Sir Rod Drury say seeing him honoured as New Zealander of the Year prompted them to speak publicly. Paula Penfold reports.
Sir Rod Drury has relinquished his New Zealand of the Year title, but says “I completely reject the recent allegations about me”.
The announcement follows a Stuff investigation revealing allegations from three women of unwanted physical contact by Drury when they worked for him. Two have made complaints to police in recent weeks.
Drury, a celebrated businessman who founded accounting software firm Xero in 2005 and was its chief executive for 11 years, was knighted in the 2026 New Year Honours and awarded the New Zealander of the Year supreme title in March.
He has denied any wrongdoing, saying the allegations are “unfounded” and any relationships he did have were consensual and mutual.
In a statement on Friday afternoon, the New Zealander of the Year Awards Office confirmed that after discussions with Drury he had “returned the award”.
“The New Zealander of the Year Awards exist to celebrate those whose contributions strengthen Aotearoa New Zealand and reflect the values of leadership, service, integrity and respect for others,” the statement said.
“Any matter that undermines or calls into question those values is not consistent with the standards and expectations we hold for the Awards programme.
“The 2026 New Zealander of the Year Award will not be re-awarded.”
Approached for comment, Drury confirmed he had informed the New Zealander of the Year Awards Office that he would return the award.
“While I completely reject the recent allegations about me, I do not want the current situation to undermine the integrity of the awards or place further pressure on a great organisation before the relevant investigations and proper processes have been completed.
“The Awards Office should not be put in the position of having to deal with matters that do not involve them while those processes are underway.”
This is what happened in the weeks leading up to Friday’s announcement.
Ally Naylor
When Ally Naylor opened her phone the morning after the New Zealander of the Year awards to read that her former boss had won the supreme title, she said “F… this” out loud, and decided a secret she had kept for 10 years should be kept no longer.
Naylor was a junior Xero employee in the mid-2010s, an IT project coordinator.
She told Stuff that Drury invited her to his apartment – across the road from the Xero building – on multiple occasions in the context of work-related meetings.
She claimed the first episode of unwanted sexual contact happened as she was leaving after having accepted an invitation to dinner.
“As he was walking me to the door he kind of like stopped the door and was like, ‘I just really want to kiss you’, and I was like um sorry no.. this is just like a lot for my head.”
She said he accepted that.
“And then I left and I got into the elevator and I was just like, ‘What the f…? What the f… just happened?’
She said similar behaviour happened on approximately five occasions.
In 2017, on her last day at Xero, she documented her experiences in a complaint through the company’s internal whistleblower process, setting out details such as Drury saying, “he liked my vibe, and kissed me on the mouth”.
“He also began to feel underneath my breasts. I froze and a few moments later said I couldn’t do this and left the apartment.”
When Stuff phoned Drury to put Naylor’s claims to him, he said he did not want to talk about Naylor.
“Anything is private between people,” he said “And I think she was a great employee and a really good person.”
Asked why he invited women employees on their own to his apartment for business meetings, Drury said, “That’s private business. I had lots of different friendships.”
He also disputed they were business meetings. “It’s a hard thing to answer. I always had lots and lots of friends.”
He said he understood the power imbalance in a CEO-employee relationship.
“I understand all of that,” he said. “But, you know, it’s a pretty fast-paced environment, and lots of amazing relationships with people at Xero, male and female. It was like we were all unified as a team, doing some amazing things. It was an incredible time.”
Naylor described the ongoing impacts and distress she experienced as a result of Drury’s alleged unwanted advances.
In response to Stuff’s questions about Naylor’s case, Xero commissioned an independent investigation led by Maria Dew KC, into the circumstances of the 2017 complaint, and the company’s response.
Naylor described ongoing distress and impacts from her experiences of Drury. In the week prior to publication of her story, she made a complaint to the police, and has been interviewed.
Following publication, the New Zealander of the Year awards office confirmed it had contacted Drury “ acknowledging the reporting”.
“We recognise the seriousness of the issues raised and our responsibility is to ensure any matters are handled through our established process, with fairness to all parties,” a spokesperson said.
Amy’s story
When Stuff went to Drury with questions about a second former employee, who we called Amy because she feared consequences for her career by speaking publicly, he released a statement.
He referred to the previous claims from Naylor, calling his relationship with her “consensual and mutual”, a characterisation she rejected.
In relation to questions about Amy, in which we put to him her allegations of unwanted physical contact, he said: “Any other relationships I had over that period were consensual and mutual.”
Amy’s account was very different.
She said she went to Drury’s apartment for what she thought would be a job discussion about a job opportunity.
That did not eventuate.
“The time just went by, and then it got dark and he dimmed the lights. And I remember thinking ‘This is really weird, he’s not going to talk to me about this job’.”
Disappointed, she remembered saying it was time to go.
She claims that at that point, Drury initiated physical contact.
“And then he just grabbed me and kissed me up against the wall. And I was like, ‘Hey, you’re married. You can’t do this’.
“And I went downstairs and I went on the street and I just started crying. And I walked home, and I just cried all the way home.”
Megan Ruddle
On Wednesday, Stuff published allegations by Megan Ruddle who worked for Drury in recent years, finishing her employment with him in September 2025.
She was a chef on his luxury catamaran, and then worked at his Queenstown meeting house Taramea.
Ruddle spoke despite a confidential employment settlement claim accusing him of unjustified dismissal and sexual harassment.
He denied the allegations and said the settlement was because employment processes were not properly followed.
Ruddle claimed Drury had kissed her on the lips “easily over 50 times” as a form of greeting when she worked with him, also referring to her as “Hot chef Megan”.
Ruddle said she would try to avoid his kisses.
And his face would find my face. I would never kiss back. I would be tense and rigid,” she said. “It felt like he was getting satisfaction out of being able to do something, despite knowing that it made me very uncomfortable.”
Ruddle too has recently made a complaint to police, and has been interviewed.
In response to questions, Drury said Ruddle’s allegations were “unfounded” and not supported by the facts.
“At no time was there any form of intimate or physical relationship, nor did I ever try to initiate one.”
He said he would be making contact with police in relation to the allegations, “as I have with previous matters raised publicly. There are multiple witnesses to the relevant events and documentation which provide the full picture”.
Asked by Stuff about witnesses who saw him kissing Ruddle on the lips on multiple occasions, Drury said, “Nothing further to add”.
New Zealander of the Year
All three women who spoke to Stuff said independently of each other that they spoke out because they did not believe Drury deserved the accolade of New Zealander of the Year.
“Because he stood up and accepted an award for New Zealander of the year,” said Naylor. “The best New Zealander.”
Amy said when she saw Drury knighted in the New Year Honours she was “devastated”.
“It was just a real kick in the guts.”
Then, a few weeks later, he was given top honour at the New Zealander of the Year awards.
“Which was less upsetting and more pure anger,” she said, “because you’re just taking the f…ing piss now. You’re baiting people to say something about what you’ve done.”
Ruddle said she felt he did not deserve the accolades.
“It didn't paint the right picture of the character that he has. I felt that New Zealand deserved to know the real Rod Drury.”