From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Parl.	Electorate	List Pos.	Party
43rd	Palmerston North	n/a	Labour
44th	Palmerston North	n/a	Labour
45th	Palmerston North	none	Labour
46th	Palmerston North	3	Labour
47th	Palmerston North	4	Labour
48th	Palmerston North	4	Labour

Steven (Steve) Maharey (born 3 February 1953) serves as New Zealand's Minister of Education, Minister of Broadcasting, Minister of Research, Science and Technology, Minister for Crown Research Institutes and Minister responsible for the Education Review Office.

In recent times he has also been Minister of Social Development and Employment, Minister of Housing, and Minister of Youth Affairs. He is a member of the governing Labour Party.

Maharey was born in Palmerston North. After gaining an MA in sociology, he was a lecturer at Massey University, also in Palmerston North, teaching both sociology and business administration. His particular speciality within sociology was media studies.

Between 1986 and 1989, Maharey served on the Palmerston North city council. In the 1990 election, Maharey stood as the Labour's party candidate for Palmerston North, and was elected to Parliament. As of 2006, he continues to hold that seat.

Maharey immediately became Labour's spokesperson on broadcasting issues, and also gained associate responsibility for education. In 1994, he switched roles and became spokesperson on labour relations. In 1996, he became spokesperson on social welfare, employment, and tertiary education, and dropped the labour relations portfolio in 1997.

After the 1999 elections, a Labour-Alliance government was formed, Maharey became Minister of Social Services and Employment, having responsibility for social welfare, youth services, and the reduction of unemployment. In 2002 the title changed to Minister for Social Development and Employment. He also became Associate Minister of Education holding special responsibility for tertiary education. After the 2002 elections, in which Labour was re-elected, Maharey also became Minister of Broadcasting. In a December 2004 cabinet reshuffle, Maharey dropped the Associate Minister of Education portfolio and became Minister for Research, Science and Technology, Minister for Crown Research Institutes, and Minister for Youth Affairs. He is officially ranked fourth in the Cabinet hierarchy.

Maharey is the most prominent advocate within the Labour Party for the so-called "Third Way" approach, similar to that of Tony Blair in the United Kingdom. Maharey is often considered to be one of the more significant political theorists within the government.

Maharey's role in the Labour Party is one of the most aggressive 'attack dogs', best projected by his regular commentaries.

While fellow colleague John Tamihere described Maharey as 'smarmy' in an Investigate magazine interview, Maharey's personality publicly surfaced during the Christine Rankin Employment Court Hearing in 2001, where Rankin and Maharey publicly exchanged insults. The New Zealand Herald quoted several exchanges between the two verbatim that were alleged to have occurred by Rankin.