Podcasts about sir geoffrey palmer

"Her Māori language pronunciation at the time, in 1990, certainly was miles ahead of my boss, Sir Geoffrey Palmer."See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It's now time for a very special edition of Pae Korero, and we are delighted to have two former Prime Ministers - Dame Jenny Shipley and Sir Geoffrey Palmer - as we talk about the passing of Queen Elizabeth II.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Former Prime Minister and Constitutional Expert Sir Geoffrey Palmer met the Queen a number of times, he joined Simon Barnett and James Daniels. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Queen has died, aged 96. Queen Elizabeth II was the UK's longest-reigning monarch. Former Prime Minister and constitution expert Sir Geoffrey Palmer met the Queen on a number of occasions. He spoke to Corin Dann.

The former New Zealand Prime Minister extended his sympathy to everyone who has lived through her reign.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Stats New Zealand is rejecting criticism that law changes will erode its independence. Former chief statistician Len Cook told Morning Report last week that a bill before parliament opens the way for Stats' powers to be transferred to other agencies, with no controls or limits. Constitutional lawyer Sir Geoffrey Palmer and former Stats Minister Maurice Williamson voiced similar criticism. But the Deputy Government Statistician, Dr Craig Jones, told RNZ reporter Phil Pennington this is "at best a misunderstanding", or misleading.

And so Ashley Bloomfield will leave the building in 4 months.A decision he made late last year. Even though he has another year and a bit on his contract.As he said he wanted to leave when the country was in a good place with the Covid pandemic.So there's some certainty for you. In 4 months we should be sweet.I've never envied Ashley's job. It's been 24/7. The decisions have been necessary but never palatable.But he's always been there. Dr Ashley Bloomfield is a smart but simple man. He reads the science and applies it.He's been honest and calm and unrattled. He shied away from overly emotive language.He has communicated the need for some drastic actions well and always with charm. It's that charm that has been his greatest ally.Sir Geoffrey Palmer noted that it's been a long time since any public servant became so well known.For that you must blame the Prime Minister who co-opted his charm and shared the podium.  It was unnecessary. But perhaps the joining of a politician with a technocrat was the reason our response worked so well over the initial stages.  We believed Ashley in the way we'd never believe a politician.He was the right man for the right moment.But that moment has passed.It has become evident that the Health system he presides over is deeply flawed. So flawed the Government is redesigning it.Ashley is the boss of that system. The Roche Simpson report said to me that the Ministry and the Department were leading the boss astray while at the same time not listening to what the boss was promising. That can't continue. And nor can the boss.So a new structure will emerge. I'd hope that the medical advice and structural management that is in Ashley's job will be separatedBut for now it's Ashley's day. Well done that man.And as Chris Hipkins has already said: he deserves a beer.

Three of our former prime ministers have co-signed a letter calling for an end to Russia's war in Ukraine. The statement was issued by the Asia-Pacific Leadership Network and warns that the war in Ukraine creates a risk of nuclear escalation for as long as it continues. Helen Clark, Jim Bolger and Sir Geoffrey Palmer all put their name to it. Helen Clark joined Andrew Dickens. LISTEN ABOVE 

Mai is Managing Partner of Chen Palmer, Australasia's first public law specialist firm, which she founded in 1994 together with Sir Geoffrey Palmer. Mai has a master's degree from Harvard Law School, and is one of New Zealand's top constitutional and administrative law experts, specializing in central and local government policy and legislation. Alongside running Chen Palmer, Mai has taken on a range of different roles. She has been an adjunct professor at the University of Auckland at the School of Law, and she was the inaugural chair at New Zealand Global Women. She also currently chairs both New Zealand Asian Leaders, and the Superdiversity Institute for Law, Policy and Business. And as well as that, she's currently also a director on the board of BNZ. Mai has been widely recognized for her contributions and was a top 10 finalist in the 2014 and 2016 New Zealander of the Year Awards. We hope you enjoying listening to her sharing her career story. "I think when you are a migrant, you've always had to work really hard throughout your life to prove yourself, and it does make you quite a driven individual. And also, I just don't like to lose. I've never liked losing. So, it turns out, that I'm the lawyer I would hire if I got in trouble."

The SIS broke into the Indian High Commission for MI6 and the Iranian embassy for the CIA in the late 1980s and early 1990s to photograph code books, plant bugs and steal communications. The operations included at least two raids on the Indian High Commission in Wellington in 1989 and 1991 to photograph thousands of pages from the commission's code books - used to encrypt communications. The covert attack on the Iranian embassy in Wellington was to bug the embassy and intercept communications from a Telex machine, in a mission driven by the CIA. Sir Geoffrey Palmer and Jim Bolger, who were the two Prime Ministers for most of that period, say they were never told. Investigative Journalist Guyon Espiner reports.

The former prime minister Sir Geoffrey Palmer has revealed the Soviet Union tried to penetrate New Zealand government systems and infiltrate the ruling Labour Party during the Cold War. In an interview for The Service, a new RNZ podcast which explores Cold War espionage in New Zealand, Sir Geoffrey Palmer says the Russian spy agency was extremely active here from the mid-1980s. Sir Geoffrey, and former intelligence figures interviewed for the podcast, say the Soviets were partly motivated by an opportunity they saw to stoke tensions between New Zealand and the US over the anti-nuclear law banning American warships from port visits. RNZ investigative journalist Guyon Espiner worked with Wellington writer and documentary maker John Daniell to produce the podcast. Guyon Espiner has the story.

New Zealand on average spend more than $4 billion a year on alcohol, which is roughly the same we spend on fruit and vegetables.Our spending on alcohol became evident just prior to lockdown, as liquor stores recorded an 1800 per cent spike in sales.Auckland University Emeritus Professor of Statistics George Seber, author or new book Alcohol: A Dangerous Love Affair, told Andrew Dickens after doing some research, he wanted to write a book on the country's alcohol habits.Mr Seber said it is important to find out what is going on and the seriousness behind it."I think the alcohol industry has had quite a strong pull on the Government, and the Act of 2012 had no teeth. In a recent talk by Sir Geoffrey Palmer he actually said time has come for a reform again." Mr Seber believes the rest of the world has similar drinking habits."It is a worldwide problem."Different countries are trying different ways to get to grips with it. That's why I introduced [in my book] other countries just to give some indication of what might be done."

In the first part of this series we spoke to Sir Geoff who is a human rights activist as well as an Emeritus Professor at Heriot-Watt University about links to the slave trade in the New Town. In the second part we take up the tale of the plaque proposed for the Melville Monument in St Andrew Square.

So this morning another call has been made to adapt and strengthen our alcohol laws.Excuse me while I yawn because we all know where this goes because we’ve been here before. It goes nowhereIn the past 10 years we have had four government initiated reports into alcohol and our politicians have managed to ignore every single one.In 2010 we had the big one helmed by Sir Geoffrey Palmer. The Law Commission Review came up with 153 recommendations including raising the price of alcohol by 10 per cent, raising the drinking age to 20 and making sure communities had more say in where alcohol was sold. As Sir Geoffrey said at the time you can buy a can of RTDs in the suburbs for one or two dollars and that’s less than you’ll pay for bottled water.Simon Power the minister in charge of booze at the time was so keen for it that he asked for it to be presented to Parliament early, which it was, and then duly ignored with a vote to raise the drinking age defeated. The report disappeared and so did Simon Power.Now in the past nine years there’s been three other reports that have come to roughly the same conclusion and suffered roughly the same fate. We’ve had a ministerial forum on alcohol advertising. Ignored. A Ministry of Justice report on alcohol pricing. Ignored. Now the latest is from the Mental Health Inquiry.That inquiry says the government should enact all the stuff from the previous 3 inquiries. And that looks like it’s going to be ignored as well. They're too busy wanting to legalise marijuana.This is all sadly ironic taken that this government brays all over the shop that it’s about wellbeing. A government that can ban guns in a heartbeat yet ignore the most harmful drug in our society. It’s notable that all the government’s over the past decade have been more than happy to tax tobacco into the stratosphere. Yet kids can still pop down to a suburban booze barn and pick up a woody for a song.It’s got to the point where a group of health experts have written in the New Zealand Medical Journal saying that it almost seems like the governments over the past decade have had vested interests involved in the debate. Big call.Well I’ll go further than that and say of course there are vested interests. No government wants to be seen as a wowser nanny state. No government wants to upset 18 to 20 year olds by telling them they can vote, marry and fight for our country but you can’t drink. All government’s are scaredy cats.I have long said this. 20 for a off licence drinking age, 18 for licensed premises. Raise the price. Travel and you wont find booze cheaper than in New Zealand. And bring in more civil cost recovery mechanisms, basically drunk and disorderly, for all those people who hurt themselves and hurt others because they’re off their face on our only legal recreational drug.  Just do it. How many times do you have to be asked

Sir Geoffrey Palmer on International Dispute Settlement

In this final, bonus podcast, join Helen Clark, Jim Bolger, Dame Jenny Shipley and Sir Geoffrey Palmer in conversation with Tim Watkin and Guyon Espiner, as we launch the book of the series, The 9th Floor.  

Today's guest is a trailblazer in law, business and leadership. Mai Chen, together with Sir Geoffrey Palmer, opened Australasia's first public law specialist firm in 1994, and since then has built a company and record that has resulted in more gongs and top positions than this intro could fit. Here's a few notable ones: New Zealand's Best public law firm a bunch of times, Inaugural Chair of Global Woman, a Director of BNZ, Adjunct Professor at Auckland Uni Law School, and recently the launch chair of Super Diverse Women. To talk the law business, her career and Super Diverse Women, Mai Chen joined the podcast. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

In The 9th Floor, a landmark new series for RNZ, Guyon Espiner talks to five former NZ Prime Ministers, starting with reforming lawmaker Sir Geoffrey Palmer, who became our 33rd PM in 1989.

Sir Geoffrey Palmer reflects on regulatory efforts to deal with Climate Change, both in New Zealand and internationally. He describes climate change as a slow motion tragedy, and discusses mitigation of the effects of anthropogenic climate change. This lecture was given at University of Otago on Monday 5th of October 2015.

This open forum, jointly hosted by the Centre for Theology & Public Issues and the Howard League for Penal Reform, is chaired by Dunedin Barrister Anne Stevens. The panellists include Sir Geoffrey Palmer, QC, former Prime Minister of New Zealand, Major Campbell Roberts, Director of Social Policy, Salvation Army and Professor Jennie Connor, Head of the Department of Preventive and Social Medicine, University of Otago. The link between alcohol consumption and criminal offending in New Zealand is well established. Police estimate that about one third of all offending involves alcohol and that about half of all violent crimes are alcohol-related. The link between alcohol and crime is but one indicator of the serious problems caused by alcohol consumption in our society. The panel considers the nature and extent of the problem and the legal, behavioural and cultural changes that are needed to make a difference. 31 October 2013

This open forum, jointly hosted by the Centre for Theology & Public Issues and the Howard League for Penal Reform, is chaired by Dunedin Barrister Anne Stevens. The panellists include Sir Geoffrey Palmer, QC, former Prime Minister of New Zealand, Major Campbell Roberts, Director of Social Policy, Salvation Army and Professor Jennie Connor, Head of the Department of Preventive and Social Medicine, University of Otago. The link between alcohol consumption and criminal offending in New Zealand is well established. Police estimate that about one third of all offending involves alcohol and that about half of all violent crimes are alcohol-related. The link between alcohol and crime is but one indicator of the serious problems caused by alcohol consumption in our society. The panel considers the nature and extent of the problem and the legal, behavioural and cultural changes that are needed to make a difference. 31 October 2013

This open forum, jointly hosted by the Centre for Theology & Public Issues and the Howard League for Penal Reform, is chaired by Dunedin Barrister Anne Stevens. The panellists include Sir Geoffrey Palmer, QC, former Prime Minister of New Zealand, Major Campbell Roberts, Director of Social Policy, Salvation Army and Professor Jennie Connor, Head of the Department of Preventive and Social Medicine, University of Otago. The link between alcohol consumption and criminal offending in New Zealand is well established. Police estimate that about one third of all offending involves alcohol and that about half of all violent crimes are alcohol-related. The link between alcohol and crime is but one indicator of the serious problems caused by alcohol consumption in our society. The panel considers the nature and extent of the problem and the legal, behavioural and cultural changes that are needed to make a difference. 31 October 2013

NZ as one of the worlds pioneering democracies has a long record of engaging in peaceful protest and dialog to bring about inspirational and social change.Recent revelations made available from Bradley Manning and Edward Snowden have brought the realization that globally and especially to those of us in the West that we are totally immersed in a matrix-like security and intelligence apparatus that has been ticking silently and secretly in the background and over our shoulder. All under the guise of Big Brother - watching us.Other than the French saboteurs and the Israeli passport spies, we in NZ have fortunately had no terrorist incursions. Thus the premise is put forward that with no external threat to Nuclear Free NZ, that the NZ intelligence community can, and is being used to spy on NZ radicals by the SIS. The Security Intelligence Services.What is a NZ radical, and what threat if any are they to the State apparatus? Keith Locke who recently was able to view a copy of his NZ security files was spied on by NZ Government agencies since the age of 11 years. Now with invasive electronic means what is the future of NZers going to be like in NZ with the passing of the GCSB Bill? (Government Communications Security Bureau). Connecting the:      DOTS  … _ _ _ …In 2011 Kim Dotcom, a German was living in NZ as a new resident (in the Prime Ministers own electorate) and was running his Megaupload Internet company that was alleged to be illegal pirating copyrighted digital media, globally etc.On information from the US authorities and the FBI, NZ Police made a spectacular raid on Dotcom's home in January 2012 and arrested him.The NZ courts ruled that the raid was illegal due to the fact that it was unlawful for the GCSB to spy on a NZ resident, especially as correct protocols were not being observed by the police.The fall out resulted in the director of the GCSB being replaced by a new recruit.Ian Fletcher was appointed as director of the GCSB in February 2012. Mr Fletcher is a former diplomat. Fletcher was interviewed by the appointment panel after an earlier short-list of four candidates had been rejected by the Prime Minister on the recommendation of the State Services Commissioner. In March 2013, Mr Key admitted he had known Mr Fletcher since they were in school, but denied they were friends.Answering questions in Parliament about Mr Fletcher's appointment, Key said he hadn't 'seen the guy in a long time' and hadn't mentioned he had made a phone call to Mr Fletcher when the question first came up in Parliament because he had 'forgotten' about it. Former GCSB director Sir Bruce Ferguson said the way Key had intervened in the selection process was 'disturbing'.In December 2012, the NZ High Court ruled Kim Dotcom could sue the GCSB for damages.Hence Dotcom is in the forefront of the NZers wanting far more transparency in how the government oversee security and intelligence in this country.This GCSB Bill is opposed by the opposition Labour and the Green party, the NZ First Party and several left-wing groups, ESPECIALLY the NZ Law Society, and the Human Rights Tribunal, plus NZer of the year Dame Anne Salmond and ex Prime Minister Sir Geoffrey Palmer.NOTE:As the Prime Minister appoints both the director of the GCSB and the Inspector General. Associate Professor of law at Auckland University, Bill Hodge, says the watchdog should be appointed by Parliament rather than by the Prime Minister. Former prime minister, Sir Geoffrey Palmer agrees: 'There needs to be some separation between the inspector and the agency he overseas'.With this legislation being put through under urgency, WHY is there such urgency?Some important clues come through in this interview.Evidence is also available that if one had too left wing a viewpoint your career would be affected by information collected by the SIS. Promotion would not come and visas may not be forthcoming from the USA for instance.We learn how innocent people can be affected by spying, that spirals out of control due to a certain mind set of biases and prejudices and the urgency of checks and balances from a judiciary that administer the law of the land in an enlightened manner - is a must!On another issue, it is important for NZers to also realize that Parliament basically has no say in Treaties. Governments and bureaucrats make treaties, but Members of Parliament basically have no say hence the TPPA the Trans Pacific Partnership Agreement if signed of will be done only by Cabinet, who are hand picked by the Prime Minister.(Authors statement. Personally as a NZer I am not an illegal downloader of copyrighted media and definitely do not make money out of it. I as a person on the sidelines saw Dotcom as milking the system in huge terms and living high on the hog whilst half the world starved.  The macabre in this saga is; from being an outlaw, Dotcom (with his money) has now been cast as the savior of the public good from the oppressive hand of local and global surveillance systems).