Rachel Brooking is a Labour Party member of Parliament [42][43], confirmed as having held a seat since 2020 [26], and is associated with the Dunedin electorate [27].
Brooking was educated at the University of Otago [19]. According to a single reputable secondary source, she served as President of the Otago University Students' Association in 1997 [10] and received OUSA Life Membership that same year [41]. She is also reported, from a single reputable secondary source, to have been a board member of the University Book Shop (Otago) Ltd from 2010 [17].
Prior to entering Parliament, Brooking worked as a lawyer [4], a career confirmed across multiple sources. According to single reputable secondary sources, she practised as an environmental lawyer [2] and more specifically as a resource management and local government lawyer [7], including a period at the firm Anderson Lloyd [5]. She is also reported to have worked at the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment in Wellington [9], with one source placing this in the 2000s [8], and to have served as a lawyer in that office [6]. A single source further reports she was an expert panelist on a Resource Management Act review [3] and served as chair of the Otago/Southland branch of the Resource Management Law Association [11], having been a member of the RMLA from the 2000s [14]. She is additionally reported, from a single reputable secondary source, to have been a company director [1], including as a director of CGCA Jackson Limited, a medical services company [16].
Brooking entered Parliament in 2020 [26][27]. According to single reputable secondary sources, she served as deputy chair of the Environment committee and deputy chair of the Regulations Review committee from 17 October 2020 [36][37], and was also a member of the Finance and Expenditure select committee [39]. A single source reports she held the role of Associate Minister for the Environment from April 2023 [22] and Associate Minister for Immigration [21]. She is confirmed as having held the offices of Minister for Food Safety [28] and Minister for Oceans and Fisheries [29].
Following a change in government, a single reputable secondary source reports Brooking became Opposition Spokesperson for Environment from 1 December 2023 [31]. From 11 March 2026, the same source reports she took on spokesperson roles for the Environment [35], Food Safety [32], RMA Reform [33], and Space [34].