Prime Minister Christopher Luxon is set to speak from the Pacific Islands Forum after the death of Kiingi Tuheitia Pootatau Te Wherowhero VII.
Luxon is in Tonga for the Pacific Islands Forum.
Pacific leaders have been paying tribute to Kiingi Tuheitia.
New Zealand's longest-serving councillor has shared his sadness after the death of his long-time friend, Kiingi Tuheitia, who died on Friday morning.
"I think the whole of the Pacific will mourn his passing," Pacific Islands Forum secretary-general, Baron Waqa, said.
Kiingi Tuheitia was an unpretentious man, and his home remained the house he and his wife built at Huntly.
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