Mason was a New Zealand journalist who moved to Australia and became the ABC's first foreign correspondent in South East Asia. He was involved in radio and television documentaries and later became an adviser with the South East Asian Treaty Organization. Mason was an Australian Democrat senator in the Australian Parliament from 1978 until he retired in 1987. He was living in the Blue Mountains in 1994.
Mason has written a number of works on Asian affairs and the international situation including Asia Emerges (1968), The Philippines: a concise outline of the history, wealth and development of the nation (1968), Understanding Indonesia (1970), Asia, a first view (1972), The View From Peking: an account of the Chinese people today (1977), A Short History of Asia (2000) and The 2030 Spike: countdown to global catastrophe (2003).
