Geoffrey Palmer (politician)

Sir Geoffrey Palmer (2009)

Sir Geoffrey Winston Russell Palmer (* 21st April 1942 in Nelson ) is a New Zealand politician of the Labor Party . From August 1989 to September 1990 he was Prime Minister of New Zealand . He was instrumental in the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act 1990 , a law that guarantees basic civil rights.

Life

Palmer attended Nelson College in his birthplace, then studied politics and law at Victoria University of Wellington until 1964. In 1967 he completed his legal training in Chicago . For some time he taught at the University of Iowa and the University of Virginia in the United States. He also worked as a consultant for the Australian government. In 1974 he became a professor in Wellington.

In 1979, Palmer was elected to parliament in the Christchurch constituency. From 1983 he led the Labor Party in the opposition. His party won the elections in 1984, and he became deputy prime minister under David Lange , chief government adviser and minister of justice. In the following legislative period he filled the office of environment minister, in which he was personally interested. After extensive economic reform by Treasury Secretary Roger Douglas , there was a crisis in the Labor Party. The extensive privatization and the abolition of subsidies and tariffs were very unpopular with the population. For a long time Douglas had to fire first and resign in August. As his deputy, Palmer became head of government.

In public, Palmer was associated with the unpopular reforms and had a difficult time from the start. Mike Moore took his place in the 1990 election and lost significantly to Jim Bolger . Palmer returned to Victoria University, where he taught law. At the same time he was a professor at the University of Iowa and worked as a legal advisor. In 1994 he founded a law firm with Mai Chen. He also served as an ad hoc judge at the International Court of Justice in The Hague on one case in the 1990s . Since December 2002 he has represented New Zealand at the International Whaling Commission. Since December 1, 2005, he has also headed a commission that is supposed to review and revise New Zealand laws. He is a member of the Order and holder of the Order of St. Michael and St. George and holder of the Order of Australia .

Web links

• Biography (English)