Former prime minister Jim Bolger is being laid to rest at an official funeral service in Paraparaumu.
The requiem mass, being held at Our Lady Of Kāpiti Catholic Church, is due to start at 11am and is expected to last for about 90 minutes.
Leading political figures from several decades will attend the service alongside friends and family.
Bolger, who led the country through significant economic and electoral change during the 1990s, died last week aged 90.
He was National Party leader during his term in office from 1990 to 1997, and was the longest-lived former prime minister. He also held the King Country seat in Parliament for more than two decades.
Nicknamed the Great Helmsman, Bolger presided over New Zealand’s electoral reforms and formed the country’s first MMP coalition with NZ First leader Winston Peters.
After leaving Parliament in 1998, Bolger served as New Zealand’s ambassador to the United States until 2002. He later chaired Kiwibank and a led the renationalising of KiwiRail.
His family said he died peacefully yesterday surrounded by his nine children, 18 grandchildren and wife Joan.
“Over the period of his illness, Jim and the family have greatly appreciated the support and companionship of so many friends near and far,” they said last week.
“Joan and family would also like to thank the renal team and all the wonderful staff at Wellington Regional Hospital and Wellington Free Ambulance for their care of Jim over recent months.
“Jim was much loved and will be deeply missed.”
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon described Bolger as a “towering figure in New Zealand political life – a leader of conviction, a reformer of consequence, and a servant of the people whose legacy has shaped our nation in profound and lasting ways”.
