Mason was elected
Mayor of Pukekohe in 1915. He was left-wing in his political outlook, and joined the
Labour Party on its foundation in 1916. In the
1919 general election, he was Labour's candidate for the seat of
Manukau, but was defeated. Mason sought the Labour nomination for the in the seat, but was beaten by
John A. Lee. Later, he shifted his attention to the seat of
Eden — he contested it in the
1922 election and
1925 election. He finally won Eden in a
1926 by-election, assisted by the fact that the
Reform Party's vote was split by a defeated nominee,
Ellen Melville. Rex Mason represented the seat of
Eden in the 22nd Parliament (1926–28),
Auckland Suburbs in the 23rd to 27th Parliaments (1928–46),
Waitakere in the 28th to 33rd Parliaments (1946–63), and
New Lynn in the 34th Parliament (1963–66). In both
1931 and
1933 he stood unsuccessfully for
Mayor of Auckland City on a Labour Party ticket, defeated by
George Hutchison on both occasions. Throughout his parliamentary career, Mason remained highly involved in the organisation of the Labour Party. He served as its president from 1931 to 1933, and played a major role in policy formulation. Mason was regarded as a
social democrat rather than a
socialist, and he played a part in moving the Labour Party closer to the political centre. He did, however, believe that the state should have exclusive control over the country's financial system, influenced by
social credit monetary reform theories. Other causes supported by Mason include the establishment of a comprehensive old-age pension system and the granting of full state services to
naturalised immigrants (the latter making him extremely popular with his electorate's substantial
Yugoslavian community).
First Labour government When Labour won the
1935 general election, Mason became
Attorney General and
Minister of Justice, reflecting his legal background. When disputes arose between the party leadership and
John A. Lee's more radical faction, Mason remained on good terms with both sides — while he sympathised with some of Lee's points, particularly regarding monetary reform, he did not join Lee's breakaway
Democratic Labour Party (DLP). Mason later served as
Minister of Education (where he worked closely with
C. E. Beeby to implement educational reforms) and as
Minister of Native Affairs. In 1941 the Public Service Commissioner
Thomas Mark died in (or just outside) the minister's office, during a confrontation with Mason who wanted the resignation of the head of a department. The chief justice,
Michael Myers, was of the view that the Crown's principal law officers should be
King's Counsel. On 23 July 1946, Mason (who was Minister of Justice) and
Herbert Evans (who was
solicitor-general) received their appointment. Mason was not returned to Cabinet after the
1946 election, but returned to fill a vacancy the following year. After Labour lost office, he continued to agitate on a number of issues, notably
decimal currency. In 1953, Mason was awarded the
Queen Elizabeth II Coronation Medal.
Second Labour government After Labour won the
1957 election, Mason returned to his previous roles of Attorney General and Minister of Justice. He was also made
Minister of Health. In 1959 he introduced a bill proposing that men convicted of homosexual acts should be dealt with as merely indecent assaults and therefore carry a lighter penalty. Mason was unfairly and inaccurately accused of attempting to amend the law to legalise homosexual acts between consenting males and adopt the recommendations of the 1957
Wolfenden Report on homosexuality in England. In 1961 Nationals deputy leader
Jack Marshall retracted much of his party's criticism, claiming they had misunderstood the intention of the bill.
Later career Mason eventually retired from politics at the
1966 election, under a certain amount of pressure from colleagues who wished to "rejuvenate" the Labour Party. Mason was now in his eighties. ==Death==