TVNZ, Maori TV to broadcast Maori Queen's burial live

Television New Zealand and Maori Television will provide live television coverage of the Maori Queen's burial.

The coverage, which is expected to start on Monday morning, will run for three hours.

It is expected the coverage will start with the coronation on Turangawaewae Marae in Ngaruawahia of whoever succeeds Te Arikinui Dame Te Atairangikaahu , the timing of which depends on the progress of deliberations by tribal elders to choose the new monarch.

The coverage will then follow the final stages of the funeral service and then Dame Te Ata's final journey in a waka along the Waikato River before her burial on Tainui's sacred Taupiri Mountain.

Veteran journalist Derek Fox will present the coverage along with Maori Television presenter Julian Wilcox, Professor James Ritchie, and One News reporter Tini Molyneux.

The ceremony will be broadcast live to Pacific nations through TVNZ's Pacific Service and streamed live online on tvnz.co.nz.

All networks will have access to the broadcast through the TVNZ outside broadcast facilities at Ngaruawahia, an arrangement made to reduce the number of cameras on the marae.

- NZPA