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Politicians across the country are paying tribute to  co-founder, leader and long-serving MP Dame Tariana Turia following her death.

Turia passed away in the early hours of this morning, aged 80.

Turia served as a minister under both Labour and National Governments and was an MP for 18 years.

The wāhine ����ǰ��� political leader first entered Parliament as a Labour list MP in 1996, a year after leading the  in Whanganui.

Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said Turia had made a “significant contribution” to New Zealand.

Former politician Peter Dunne spoke to ��һ�ǿ�����talk ZB about the passing of his former “parliamentary benchmate” Turia.

“She was certainly a highly principled person and had a huge sense of what was right and wrong.

“She was able to achieve a lot through that time as a minister.”

��һ�ǿ�����talk ZB senior political correspondent Barry Soper spoke to ��һ�ǿ�����talk ZB’s Roman Travers about Turia’s time in parliament and determination for the “betterment of ”.

“She was a woman with a great sense of humour, quite a wicked sense of humour. I shared quite a number of laughs with her over the years,” Soper said.

“She was very much a force to be reckoned with in parliament.”

Former Attorney General and ex-Treaty Negotiations Minister Chris Finlayson saw her as his favourite politician.

In a prior interview with the Herald, Finlayson said “”.

During her tenure in Parliament, Turia was responsible for the creation of wellbeing agency , something she has later admitted she feels a  about.

She retired from politics .

Tariana Turia was made Dame Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit for her services as a Member of Parliament in the 2015 New Year Honours list. Photo / Stuart Munro

Turia was made a Dame Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit, for , in the 2015 New Year Honours.

At the time, Turia .

“In the first instance I thought I might not take it but they [her whānau] said it’s not really for me, it’s for our whānau, hapū and iwi - for all the people I have worked alongside,” she said.

When a Treaty of Waitangi settlement gave the Whanganui River , Turia was appointed to act as its voice in a move she labelled .