Clayton Cosgrove has paid an emotional tribute to his "closest mate" after former Prime Minister Mike Moore died this morning.
The pair met when Mr Cosgrove, a former Labour MP, was 14.
"He and Yvonne were my other family and I owe him a debt I could never repay for his generosity and his knowledge," Mr Cosgrove told 1 NEWS today.
He described Mr Moore as a "relentless campaigner".
"We used to have a saying - we fight til the last day, the last hour, the last minute, the last second."
Mr Moore died early this morning at the age of 71, at his home in Auckland, his wife Yvonne Moore said.
The country’s 34th Prime Minister, Mr Moore suffered a stroke in 2015 when he was New Zealand’s ambassador in Washington DC and his health had been declining in recent years.
"Mike was a battler. Mike battled health issues in his life, personal issues, political battles but all his battles in essence were about ordinary people and doing right by them," Mr Cosgrove says.
Tributes have flowed from his friends and former colleagues. (Source: Other)
At just 16 years old, Mr Moore became a member of the New Zealand Labour Party and was first elected to the Auckland seat of Eden in 1972.
He was New Zealand’s youngest Member of Parliament at 23 years old.
"I think it's appropriate to say Yvonne is devastated by this, they were the golden couple, they were ahead of their time," Mr Cosgrove says.
"She has lost a life partner and she needs to be acknowledged, Mike would often say he would be a lesser person without her."
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