ORC inquiry: Who is Peter Skelton?

Peter Skelton NZOM, who has been appointed to conduct the investigation into the ORC, began his career as a partner in a legal firm, and later became a barrister specialising in planning and environmental law.

• Work on track, ORC says

For 22 years, he was a Judge of the Environment Court, before spending six years teaching and examining environmental law at Lincoln University.

More recently, he has been a Government-appointed commissioner responsible for governance of the Canterbury Regional Council.

He was the first chairman of the Environmental Legal Assistance Fund for the Ministry for the Environment, and he continues to be an adviser to central and local government.

He is one of the founders of the Environment Institute of Australia and New Zealand and was its first vice-president.

In 2000, the New Zealand Planning Institute gave him an award for outstanding service to planning by a non-planner, and in 2001 he was made a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit.

He is an honorary life member of the Resource Management Law Association of New Zealand and the Legal Research Foundation of New Zealand.