Maharey is moving on

Maharey is moving on

Steve Maharey has advised the Prime Minister that he will not be standing in the 2008 election.

It has been announced he is to be appointed as Vice-Chancellor at Massey University.

Mr Maharey is a Massey graduate and former academic staff member of the university. Current Vice-Chancellor Prof. Judith Kinnear will retire from the role in March 2008.

University Chancellor Nigel Gould says they are delighted that Mr Maharey has accepted the invitation to take up this role.

Mr Maharey is currently minister of education, minister of broadcasting, minister of research, science and technology, minister for Crown Research Institutes, minister responsible for the Education Review Office and acting minister for social development and employment.

He will continue in his current ministerial roles for now but expects to relinquish them at the time the Prime Minister reshuffles the Cabinet.

Mr Gould says Mr Maharey has an intimate knowledge of challenges facing the tertiary sector and a close understanding of Massey’s unique positioning within it.

His academic background in Business and Social Sciences, coupled with his ministerial responsibilities and his role as the Member of Parliament for Palmerston North for the past 17 years, means he has a broad understanding of the wide spectrum of the university’s activities, says Mr Gould.

Mr Maharey has a BA and an MA (Hons) in sociology. He worked at Massey University between 1978 and 1990 and was a senior lecturer in sociology. He also taught business administration. He has published widely in his specialist areas of interest, media and cultural studies and social change. From 1986-89 he was a Palmerston North city councillor before entering Parliament in 1990.

Mr Maharey will take up his position next year.