Honorary Professor Peter Skelton has effectively had four separate careers: firstly 15 years as a partner in a legal firm and then as a barrister sole, specialising in planning and environmental law; followed by 22 years as a Judge of the Environment Court of New Zealand; followed by six years teaching and examining environmental law at Lincoln University and finally for the last 5 years he has been a N Z Government appointed Commissioner responsible for governance of the Canterbury Regional Council.

In addition to these careers, Peter was the first chair of the Environmental Legal Assistance Fund for the Ministry for the Environment and fulfilled that role for six years. He has also acted as an adviser to central and local government and continues to do so. He was also one of the founders of EIANZ and its first Vice President New Zealand.

Peter has been a member of the International Bar Association (Committee F Environmental Law) and presented papers and participated in international conferences in Washington DC on mining law; Hobart University on enforcement; and Montreux in Switzerland on enforcement.

He has also presented papers on planning and resource management issues to a number of professional conferences in New Zealand and has been guest speaker at a number of functions involving environmental professionals. He has also written numerous articles and commentaries for peer reviewed professional journals

Peter’s contributions have been widely recognised. In 2000, the New Zealand Planning Institute awarded him the Alfred O Glasse Award for outstanding service to planning by a non- planner. In the 2001 New Year’s Honours, he was made a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit, a high honour in the New Zealand honour system. On retirement from Lincoln University he was awarded the position of Honorary Professor.

He is an Honorary Life Member of the Resource Management Law Association of New Zealand and the Legal Research Foundation of New Zealand. In 2007 he was awarded Honorary Fellowship of EIANZ and in 2012 he was awarded the Principal Judge R J Bollard Lifetime Commemorative Award by the Resource Management Law Association for an exemplary contribution to the field of resource management theory and practice over a lengthy and distinguished career as a practitioner. a Judge, an academic and a commissioner.

Peter’s love and respect for the law are clearly evident in all his professional dealings and his willingness to invest in the next generation of practitioners by becoming involved in the Institute and so providing a professional home for many of his students, is commendable. It would be fair to say that without Peter’s influence and reputation the New Zealand Chapter of the Institute would have found it much more difficult to become established as a credible professional body in New Zealand. His involvement has inspired many others.