| Soraya Peke-Mason | |
| Constituency Mp1: | Labour party list |
| Term Start1: | 25 October 2022 |
| Term End1: | 14 October 2023 |
| Parliament1: | New Zealand |
| Predecessor1: | Trevor Mallard |
| Office2: | Rangitikei District Councillor for the Turakina ward |
| Term Start2: | 13 October 2007 |
| Term End2: | 12 October 2019 |
| Predecessor2: | Ward established |
| Successor2: | Ward abolished |
| Birth Place: | Tokoroa, New Zealand |
| Residence: | Rātana |
| Party: | Labour |
| Alma Mater: | Massey University |
Soraya Waiata Peke-Mason is a New Zealand politician. She was a Member of Parliament in the House of Representatives for the Labour Party from 2022 to 2023.
Peke-Mason was born in Tokoroa and grew up in Castlecliff. She has ancestry that can be traced back to the early 1800s in Rangitīkei.[1]
She attended Castlecliff Primary, Rutherford Intermediate, and Whanganui High School.[2] She is self-employed and with a business background in the construction, tourism, forestry and honey industries.[3] She lives in Rātana,[4] and has tribal affiliations to Ngāti Apa, Ngāti Rangi, Ngāti Tūwharetoa, and Tainui. She has been a justice of the peace for over 30 years and has a master's degree in business administration from Massey University.
From 2001 to 2007 Peke-Mason was a member of the Rātana Community Board. Her time on the community board was focused on access to clean water for the town, an ambition culminating in 2016 with the opening of a new water treatment plant in the area.[4]
Peke-Mason was a member of the Rangitīkei District Council for 12 years. She became the council's first Māori woman councillor at the 2007 New Zealand local elections, being elected as councillor for the newly created Turakina ward.[5] She represented Turakina around the council table for the ward's entire existence, with the ward being abolished ahead of the 2019 local elections, when she stood unsuccessfully for a spot on the Horizons Regional Council.[4]
In 2019 Peke-Mason was chair of the Ngāti Rangi post-settlement entity, Te Tōtarahoe o Paerangi.[6]
In the she stood as the Labour candidate in the electorate of Te Tai Hauāuru. She came second to Tariana Turia.[7]
In March 2020 Peke-Mason was selected as the Labour candidate for the . She was unopposed for the nomination after Heather Warren, Labour's candidate from 2017, withdrew.[4] She was unsuccessful in the Rangitīkei seat, but entered Parliament off the Labour list when Trevor Mallard resigned.[8] She was sworn in on 25 October 2022, when, for the first time in history, women held a majority of seats in Parliament.[9]
During the 2023 New Zealand general election, Peke-Mason stood as the Labour candidate in the Māori electorate of Te Tai Hauāuru.[10] She was defeated by Te Pāti Māori's (the Māori Party) candidate and incumbent MP Debbie Ngarewa-Packer by a margin of 9,162 votes.[11]
She is a member of the Ratana Church. Her cousin is former Speaker of the New Zealand House of Representatives Adrian Rurawhe.[12]