Geoffrey Palmer (politician)

Rt. Hon. Geoffrey Palmer
33rd Prime Minister of New Zealand
In office 8 August 1989 – 4 September 1990
Preceded by	David Lange
Succeeded by	Mike Moore
Constituency	Christchurch Central
10th Deputy Prime Minister of New Zealand
In office 26 July 1984 – 8 August 1989
Preceded by	Jim McLay
Succeeded by	Helen Clark
Born	21 April 1942 (age 66) Taranaki,  New Zealand
Political party	Labour
Spouse	Eleanor Hinchcliff, married 1963, two children
Occupation	Law professor
Religion	Anglican

Sir Geoffrey Winston Russell Palmer, KCMG, AC, PC, (born 21 April 1942), served as Prime Minister of New Zealand from August 1989 until September 1990, leading the Labour Party. He was responsible for considerable reforms of the country's legal and constitutional framework, such as the creation of the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act and the State Sector Act.

Early life and education

Palmer was born in Nelson and attended Nelson Central School and Nelson College. At Victoria University of Wellington, he studied both political science and law. He graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1964 and a Bachelor of Laws in 1965. After working for a time in Wellington, he attended the University of Chicago's law school, gaining a Juris Doctor (doctorate of law) in 1967. He taught for a time at the University of Iowa and the University of Virginia, and undertook consultancy work for the Australian government. Eventually, in 1974, he was appointed to a professorship of law at Victoria University of Wellington, bringing him back to New Zealand again. At the 1975 general election, Palmer took part in the "Citizens for Rowling" campaign.

Member of Parliament

In the Christchurch Central by-election of 1979 Palmer was elected to Parliament, having stood as the Labour Party candidate. He eventually became deputy Leader of the Opposition in 1983. When, in 1984, the Labour Party won the general elections, Palmer became Deputy Prime Minister of the Fourth Labour Government. He also became Attorney-General and Minister of Justice. The new justice minister, who had promoted proportional representation as a law professor in his book “Unbridled power?” also published in 1984, set up a Royal Commission to investigate the electoral system and propose modifications or alternatives. His Royal Commission reported in December 1986, recommending the Mixed Member Proportional system. After the 1987 elections, when Labour was reelected, he also became Minister of the Environment, an area in which he took personal interest.

Leadership

The most notable feature of New Zealand politics at the time was the economic reform promoted by the Finance Minister, Roger Douglas. Douglas was advancing free market monetarist policies involving extensive privatization of state assets and the removal of tariffs and subsidies. These policies, which contravened Labour's basic policy platform and campaign promises, were deeply unpopular with Labour's traditional support base, and resulted in a confrontation between Prime Minister David Lange and Roger Douglas. Lange also reneged from his promise to hold a binding referendum on the MMP system. Palmer conceded defeat on MMP at an April 1989 Labour regional conference, saying that the issue was “effectively dead for the immediate future." Eventually, Douglas was removed from Cabinet, but the dispute had weakened Lange enough that he resigned a month later. Palmer, being deputy leader, took over as Prime Minister. Electoral reformers in the Labour Party kept up the pressure, and in September 1989, after Palmer had become prime minister, the full annual conference of the Labour Party passed a remit endorsing a referendum on the principle of proportional representation.

Palmer, however, was perceived by the public as being too closely involved in Douglas's reforms. Of particular concern to many people was his work on the legal aspects of state sector rearrangement, such as his preparation of the State Owned Enterprises Act. The presence of David Caygill (a Douglas ally) as Minister of Finance further compounded perception that Palmer was doing nothing to address public concerns. The only area in which Palmer won praise from traditional left-wing supporters was in his handling of the Environment portfolio, which he kept when he became Prime Minister — it was his work here that eventually led to the creation of the Resource Management Act.

Two months before the 1990 elections, it was clear that Labour would not win. The perceived damage done by Roger Douglas's reforms, as well as Palmer's perceived failure to address the issue, had caused too many Labour supporters to abandon the party. In addition, Palmer was perceived as being too academic and aloof, reminding people of the paternalistic attitude that Douglas was accused of. Palmer was replaced by Mike Moore, who Labour believed would give it a better chance of winning. The attempt failed, however, losing the biggest landslide of an incumbent in New Zealand history to the National Party under Jim Bolger.

After Parliament

Palmer, who retired at that same election, later went on to serve as Professor of Law at Victoria University again. He also held a position as Professor of Law at the University of Iowa, and worked for a time as a law consultant. The MMP system which he had helped promote was adopted in a 1993 referendum. In 1994, he established Chen Palmer & Partners, a specialist public law firm he began with Wellington lawyer Mai Chen. In December 2002, Palmer was appointed to be New Zealand's representative to the International Whaling Commission (IWC). Palmer continued his involvement with, and teaching at Victoria University in Wellington and was regularly engaged as an expert consultant on public and constitutional law issues.

Law Commissioner

In on 1 December 2005 Palmer was appointed to the presidency of the New Zealand Law Commission (the government agency that reviews, reforms and seeks to improve the country's laws) by the Governor General for a term of five years.

Honours and awards

Palmer is a member of Her Majesty’s Privy Council. He was created a Knight Commander of the Most Distinguished Order of St Michael and St George in 1991 and made an Honorary Companion of the Order of Australia in the same year. In 1991 he was listed on the United Nations Global 500 Roll of Honour for his work on environmental issues. These included reforming resource management law. Geoffrey Palmer has also sat as a Judge ad hoc on International Court of Justice in 1995. He holds honorary doctorates from three Universities.

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