New Zealand's High Commissioner to the Cook Islands, Tessa Temata, has died.
Ms Temata, 52, had returned to New Zealand recently for medical care.
New Zealand's Foreign Minister, Winston Peters, said the ministry extended its deepest sympathy to Ms Temata's family, friends and colleagues.
He described her as a respected diplomat with over 25 years' experience in trade, development and legal matters, who made a particularly strong contribution to deepening New Zealand's relationships with Pacific Island countries.
New Zealand's High Commissioner to the Cook Islands, Tessa Temata. Photo: Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade
Ms Temata was New Zealand's first High Commissioner of Cook Islands descent to serve in the Cook Islands, and the first female New Zealand High Commissioner of Pacific ancestry to be posted to the Pacific.
"Ms Temata served her country with great distinction," Mr Peters said in a statement.
"The Pacific is the part of the world where New Zealand can and does make the most difference. It is therefore to Ms Temata's great credit that she spent so much of her career serving right across the Pacific."
Ms Temata's family is from Samoa and the Cook Islands.
Since joining the Foreign Ministry in 1992, she had had postings in Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, Kiribati, Niue and the Cook Islands.