Mr Palmer related this to the water contamination the Hastings District faced last year.
"There have been, in the last few months, certain difficulties with water in this region. Becoming ill from drinking contaminated water is not the type of problem that New Zealanders expect to afflict them."
Despite a government inquiry being conducted he said at one level this seemed a failure of governance.
"There are two local authorities and central government who all have responsibilities for aspects of the issue."
"People are entitled to some checks and balances against this type of situation occurring."
To ensure the environment is protected Mr Palmer said there needs to be legislative and other measures that promote justiciable economic and social development.
He believed this needed to be elevated to a constitutional level so that it was protected by a superior law constitution.
"The existing Bill of Rights can be overruled by Parliament. The Attorney-General makes a report to Parliament on whether a Bill introduced is in breach of the Bill of Rights but parliament can, however, go ahead and pass it anyway."
In 25 years of the Bill of Rights, legislation inconsistent with it has been passed on 37 occasions.
If the Bill became part of a superior Law Constitution the offending provision can be struck down by the Supreme Court.
"Such a step means that important rights cannot be ignored by legislation passed by a tiny majority, as is the case now."
"New Zealand is unusual in having no written, codified Constitution. We could improve the standard of governance if we had one."