Sir Geoffrey Winston Russell Palmer KCMG AC KC PC (born 21 April 1942) is a New Zealand lawyer and former politician who was a member of Parliament from 1979 to 1990.

[3] Following Labour's unexpected loss at the 1981 general election Palmer gained the social welfare and accident compensation portfolios.

In a three-way contest, in which all candidates were from Christchurch to reflect geographical proportionality, Palmer trailed on the first ballot to Papanui MP Mike Moore.

[6] 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.

[7] The most notable feature of New Zealand politics at the time was the economic change promoted by the Finance Minister, Roger Douglas.

Douglas was advancing monetarist policies involving extensive privatisation of state assets and the removal of tariffs and subsidies—these reforms were dubbed "Rogernomics".

Palmer conceded defeat on MMP at an April 1989 Labour regional conference, saying that the issue was "effectively dead for the immediate future."

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 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 September 2001 Palmer became a founding trustee of Motu Economic and Public Policy Research and in December 2002 was appointed to be New Zealand's representative to the International Whaling Commission (IWC).

Palmer continued his involvement with, and teaching at Victoria University of Wellington and was regularly engaged as an expert consultant on public and constitutional law issues.

[15] His son Matthew Palmer was also a prominent legal academic and public servant, and was appointed a High Court judge in 2015.

In August 2010, Palmer was chosen to chair a UN Inquiry panel[19] into the fatal Israeli raid on the Mavi Marmara, a Turkish ship participating in a Gaza-bound protest flotilla in May of that year.

The report, released on 2 September 2011, found that Israel's "naval blockade was imposed as a legitimate security measure in order to prevent weapons from entering Gaza by sea and its implementation complied with the requirements of international law," and that Israeli soldiers enforcing the blockade faced "organized and violent resistance from a group of passengers" when they boarded the ship.

However, the report also found that the Israeli soldiers responded with "excessive and unreasonable" force and recommended that Israel make "an appropriate statement of regret" and pay compensation.

[24] The pair released a second book in 2018, Towards Democratic Renewal, that amends some of their proposal in the previous text and further argues their cause for a written Constitution,[25] taking on board the response of the public.

In January 2025, Palmer proposed 12 parliamentary reforms including raising the number of legislators, increasing the number of Parliament's sitting hours, extending the parliamentary term from three to four years, reforming the select committee system, introducing compulsory voting for general elections, lowering the voting age to 16 years, civics education in schools, appointing the Speaker of the New Zealand House of Representatives by secret ballot, reforming the Official Information Act 1982, limiting the amount that individuals can donate to political parties, creating a public register for lobbyists, and amending the Public Service Act 2020 to require public servants to provide "full and frank" advice on legislative proposals and to make that advice public.