Hon Parekura Horomia has been a Member of Parliament since winning the Ikaroa Rāwhiti electorate seat in 1999.
Mr Horomia has responsibility for Māori Affairs and associate responsibilities for Education, Social Development and Employment, State Services and Fisheries.
His career path eventually led him to become one of the country's highest ranking Māori public servants. The first step came in 1982 when he oversaw Department of Labour (DoL) work schemes on the East Coast, Poverty Bay and Hawke's Bay regions before working as a Group Employment Liaison Scheme (GELS) field officer in the mid-1980s.
From there, Mr Horomia moved into the corporate office of DoL and management positions with GELS. In 1988, he was appointed director of the department’s Māori Perspective Unit.
He later managed the Community Employment Development Unit which merged with SCOPE and GELS in 1992 to become the Community Employment Group (CEG) with Mr Horomia as its general manager. He was at the cutting edge of world-leading community development initiatives during his time as CEG's general manager.
During his time as the Minister of Māori Affairs, he has overseen many milestones – including the establishment of Māori Television.