Geoffrey Palmer (politician)

Infobox_Officeholder


honorific-prefix = The Right Honourable
name=Sir Geoffrey Winston Russell Palmer
honorific-suffix = KCMG, AC
|order=33^rd Prime Minister of New Zealand
monarch= Elizabeth II
governor-general=Sir Paul Reeves
deputy=Helen Clark
term_start=8 August 1989
term_end=4 September 1990
(1 year)
predecessor=David Lange
successor=Mike Moore
order2=10^th Deputy Prime Minister of New Zealand
term_start2=26 July 1984
term_end2=8 August 1989
primeminister2=David Lange
predecessor2=Jim McLay
successor2=Helen Clark
constituency_MP3= Christchurch Central
parliament3=New Zealand
term_start3=18 August 1979
term_end3=27 October 1990
predecessor3=Bruce Barclay
successor3=Lianne Dalziel
birth_date=Birth date and age|1942|4|21|df=yes
birth_place=Taranaki, New Zealand
spouse=Margaret Hinchcliff, married 1963, two children
party=Labour
religion=Anglican
occupation=Law professor

Sir Geoffrey Winston Russell Palmer, KCMG, AC (born 21 April 1942), served as Prime Minister of New Zealand from August 1989 until September 1990, leading the Fourth Labour Government. 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, Imperial Laws Application 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 a by-election in 1979 Palmer was elected to Parliament as the member for Christchurch Central, 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 with Douglas's reforms and academically remote. 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 in iniating the resource management law reform process that eventually led to the creation of the Resource Management Act. [Palmer, G., (1991). "Sustainability - New Zealand's resource management legislation." Resources: the Newsletter of the Canadian Institute of Resources Law No 34: 6 pp 3-10.]

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 lack of general charisma 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. Palmer chose to resign from parliament, and was replaced in his seat by Lianne Dalziel. 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 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. The New Zealand National party has raised questions about his suitability as Law Commission President due to his partisan ties to the Labour party.

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 the International Court of Justice in 1995. He holds honorary doctorates from three Universities.

References

External links

* [http://www.primeminister.govt.nz/oldpms/1989palmer.html Prime Minister's Office biography]
* [http://www.humanitiesresearch.net/humanz/users/individuals/palmer_geoffrey biography - The Humanities Research Network Te Whatunga Rangahau Aronui (HRN)]
* [http://www.lawcom.govt.nz/Commissioners.aspx Law Commission biography]
* [http://www.global500.org United Nations Global 500]
* [http://www.chenpalmer.com Chen Palmer website]

Persondata
NAME=Palmer, Geoffrey Winston Russell
ALTERNATIVE NAMES=
SHORT DESCRIPTION=Prime Minister of New Zealand, politician, academic
DATE OF BIRTH=April 21, 1942
PLACE OF BIRTH=Nelson, New Zealand
DATE OF DEATH=
PLACE OF DEATH=