Sir Geoffrey Winston Russell Palmer, born on April 21 1942, born in Nelson and studied in Nelson Central School and Nelson College, he studied both law and political science from Victoria University of Wellington, who remained as Prime Minister of New Zealand right from August 1989 to September 1990, serving in a Labor Party. He was behind the valuable changes of the country's constitutional and legal framework, one of his vital step was the creation of the Bill of Rights.

Mr. Palmer after studied in Wellington he than further studied in University of Chicago's Law School and gained the degree of Doctorate of Law in 1967. He also served the University of Virginia and the University of Iowa as a professor and also worked as a consultant for the Australian Government. Than he came back to New Zealand in 1974 to teach the students Law at Victoria University of Wellington.

Palmer was elected as a Member of Parliament in 1979 as a member of the Labor Party candidate for electorate of Christchurch Central. And in 1983 he served with opposition as a Deputy Leader. When the Labor Party won the general election in 1984, Palmer elected as a Deputy Prime Minister and also became Minister of Justice and Attorney-General. He became the Minister of the Environment when Labor Party re-elected in 1987.

Palmer was popularizing too many people by his work on the legal factors of state sector rearrangement, like his preparing State Owned Enterprise Act. Palmer showed perfection is his commitment towards handling of the Environment Portfolio, which was his concerned area and he kept that going even when he became the Prime Minister, such a commitment led to the creation of the Resource Management Act. Palmer was made a Knight Commander of the Most Distinguished Order of St George and St Michael in 1991.