Sir Wira Gardiner was a man who dedicated his life to serving the people of Aotearoa.
He was a highly-regarded public servant under various governments and across multiple organisations.
The Prime Minister paid tribute to him on Friday.
“Generous with his time, generous with his advice, generous with his kindness. He'll leave a legacy but he'll be deeply, deeply missed,” Jacinda Ardern said.
His most recent work had him leading the overhaul of Oranga Tamariki, in a move to fix the embattled organisation.
Tā Wira was also the founding director of the Waitangi Tribunal in 1988 and the first chief executive of the Ministry of Māori Development.
Former National Party leader Sir Bill English said Tā Wira was highly regarded.
“Sir Wira had the skill of earning the respect of everyone including the people who disagreed with him strongly, and that's critical in dealing with Crown-Māori issues,” the former Prime Minister said.
A long-time member of the National Party, Tā Wira held senior roles and was husband to former Education Minister Hekia Parata.
“In Sir Wira's time in the National Party he was able to reach a whole range of Māori opinion, through the 90s in particular when a lot of the issues around [the] reaty were difficult, sometimes violent,” Sir Bill said.
"But he was always constructive and respected by all sides.”
READ MORE: Māori leader Sir Wira Gardiner dies, aged 78
One big challenge in his work saw Tā Wira tasked with selling the fiscal envelope to Māori that would cap the value of treaty settlements.
On Waitangi Day in 1995, Tā Wira ended up in a scuffle with Hone Harawira.
On Friday, Harawira reflected on a man and friend he respected very much.
“You know weeks afterwards, months afterwards, we'd laugh about it,” Harawira said.
“Even though we were often on different sides of the fence, I always recognised that he was a rangatira in what he was doing.”
Māori Development Minister Willie Jackson said Tā Wira was a man who could work in any space.
“He was a true leader who made a contribution that is almost hard to describe.
“He fronted for National at the time, but he fronted for us in Labour. It didn't matter what party it was, he was the go-to man,” Jackson said.
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