Maharey was born in Palmerston North in 1953, the son of William Maharey and his wife Irene. He attended Freyberg High School in 1966–1969. After gaining an MA Hons in sociology from Palmerston North's Massey University, he was a lecturer at that institution from 1978, teaching both sociology and business administration. His particular specialty within sociology was social change and cultural studies.
In the 1990 election, Maharey stood as the Labour Party candidate for Palmerston North, replacing retiring MP Trevor de Cleene, and was elected to Parliament. After Maharey left the Labour party, Iain Lees-Galloway successfully held the seat for Labour in the 2008 election.
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 election, 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 election, 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 Education, Minister for Research, Science and Technology, Minister for Crown Research Institutes, and Minister for Youth Affairs. He was officially ranked fourth in the Cabinet hierarchy. Maharey stood down from his ministerial roles in 2007, pending his appointment as Vice-Chancellor of Massey University. In the 2009 New Year Honours, Maharey was appointed a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services as a Member of Parliament.
Roles after Parliament
From 2008 until 2016, Steve Maharey was the Vice-Chancellor of Massey University. In August 2018, Maharey became the Chair of the Board of Pharmac.
Controversies
While former 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 that were alleged to have occurred by Rankin. The court did not uphold Rankin's claims. In April 2007, Maharey came under criticism for saying 'fuck you' in parliamentary question time on 4 April. He apologised shortly afterwards. The outburst was elicited when Maharey was questioned by Jonathan Coleman about the appropriateness of his actions as broadcasting minister threatening to complain to the Radio New Zealand board when he was displeased by a host Sean Plunket referring to a comment Maharey had made about the need for the Cambridge exam in Botswana as 'racist.'
