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Prime Minister Helen Clark has written a tribute to her friend and mountain guide Gottlieb Braun-Elwert, but won't be able to attend his funeral due to her attendance at the Pacific Islands Forum.
Mr Braun-Elwert died of a suspected heart attack on Thursday while guiding Miss Clark, her husband Peter Davis, a niece, and Cabinet Ministers Damien O'Connor and David Parker in back country near lake Tekapo.
Miss Clark today said Mr Braun-Elwert's funeral was on Wednesday, but she would not be able to attend as she was required to attend the Pacific Islands Forum in Niue.
However, her husband would attend and read a tribute she had written.
She said naming an unnamed peak after Mr Gottlieb, who was hugely respected in the mountaineering community, would be a fitting tribute to his life and achievements.
However, any such move would need the approval of his family, she said on TVNZ's Breakfast programme.
- NZPA
