Rare honour for Ken Palmer

Wed Dec 16 2015 13:00:00 GMT+1300 (New Zealand Daylight Time)

Rare honour for Ken Palmer

16 December 2015

“Kāore te kumara e kōrero mō tōna ake reka – The kumara does not talk of its own sweetness”

An unprecedented Special Sitting of the Environment Court of New Zealand has been held to honour Associate Professor Kenneth Palmer for his exceptional contribution in the fields of environmental, resource management, planning and local government law.

Eminent members of the legal profession gathered in Auckland to commemorate Ken’s retirement after 46 years’ service as a highly valued academic at the Auckland Law School. He is retiring from full-time professorial duties to focus his full attention on legal writing and research.

A former student of his, Principal Environment Judge L. J. Newhook, presided over the formal gathering, which packed a courtroom to pay tribute to the remarkable achievements of an unassuming man.

The court included Hon Justices A. P. Randerson and E. D. Wylie, Chief Employment Court Judge G. L. Colgan, Environment Judge J. A. Smith, Environment Judge D. A. Kirkpatrick and Environment Commissioner A. C. E. Leijnen.

Hon Peter Salmon QC, Ms Bronwyn Carruthers, Andrew Brown QC, Dr Royden Somerville QC and Professor Barry Barton of Waikato University talked about Ken’s contribution to the legal profession as barrister, professor, editor and author.

Letters were tabled from notable figures who were unable to attend, among them Justice Christian Whata, retired Judge David Sheppard, Sir Malcolm Grant, Justice Mark Cooper and Environment Judge Melanie Harland, who offered the kumara proverb (whakataukī) which she felt epitomised the “quiet voice” of Ken’s approach.

The speakers and writers covered many facets of Ken’s career, which he elaborated on in his reply.

Among his anecdotes, he said a highlight was to prosecute Captain Fred Ladd for low-flying his amphibian aircraft under the harbour bridge, before his retirement. “I also successfully urged the magistrate to discharge him without conviction in recognition of his public services,” he said.

At Harvard Law School, which he attended in 1967, the idealism at the time of civil and human rights remained with him and  “could be part of the  concern that I now have in respect of mitigation of the housing shortage in Auckland, and the inability to access home ownership”.

A stint as a locum for the city solicitors Davys Burton in Rotorua gave rise to another concern; that there was no comprehensive text on local government law in New Zealand.

This led to the publication of two books, namely Local Government Law in New Zealand and Planning Law in New Zealand in 1976, which were republished in later years. His most recent text is Local Authorities Law in New Zealand (Brookers 2012) and he is a contributor to a number of environmental, resource management and legal publications.

Ken claims satisfaction for a legislative outcome he achieved as the result of a submission to a Parliamentary committee in 1987, in respect of a reform of the Rating Act. Maori land could be sold for rating default at the time and he successfully argued that the provision enabling such sale was incompatible with the words of the Treaty of Waitangi to protect Māori land holdings. After garnering support from the New Zealand Māori Council, the committee agreed and the law was changed to end rating sales of Māori land.

When the question of proper valuation of Māori land came up, he published a view that Māori land should not normally have the same value as general land, due to restrictions on sale to people outside the iwi. He took a case on behalf of the Mangatu Incorporation in Gisborne which succeeded in the High Court and Court of Appeal with the result that the Mangatu principles on fair valuation were articulated.

Among his notable achievements in his special interest area of heritage, Ken was part of an attempt to save the Jean Batten building at the bottom of Shortland Street from demolition. The outcome was a redesign that allowed for retention of the façade of the historic building.

He was also active in the battle to save Sheds 10 and 11 on Princes Wharf. As chair of the Tamaki Drive Protection Society, he lodged a formal request to the Historic Places Trust to investigate and list both sheds on the historic places register. The compromise was that shed 10, “with its stolid historical significance, and substantial adaptability” was listed and saved.

As a Research Fellow from next year, Ken looks forward to being able to continue to play a part in the life of the Law School.

“I will be joining the company of Rt Hon Sir Edmund Thomas, who is a distinguished fellow,” he says. “I will also continue to mingle with other colleagues, including employment law specialist and marathon runner Dr Bill Hodge and the redoubtable Bernard Brown.”