A Tongan man accused of murder is standing trial in the High Court at Wellington over a fatal shooting following an alleged drug deal in a Wairarapa supermarket car park.

Pelikani Taukei’aho and co-defendant Tauave Sue have pleaded not guilty to the murder of Doreion Hard, who was fatally shot in Featherston on 22 March 2025.

The Crown alleges the confrontation began after Hard and three other men arranged to meet the defendants to buy several ounces of cocaine, but instead planned to rob them.

Prosecutor Tim Bain has described the incident as a “drug deal gone sideways”.

The court heard the men arrived armed and that Hard and another man approached a grey Holden Cruze occupied by Taukei’aho and Sue.

A witness told the court the men appeared to rob the Holden’s occupants, with at least one allegedly brandishing a firearm while packages were removed from the vehicle.

The owner of a red ute used by Hard’s group testified that she heard a gunshot and saw the vehicle’s rear window shatter as they began leaving the car park.

She said Hard then grabbed her arm and told her he had been shot.

The woman told the jury she tried to stop Hard’s bleeding and keep him conscious while others in the ute were concerned with disposing of firearms and other items.

The Crown alleges Taukei’aho emerged from the Holden and fired at the departing ute, with one of the shots fatally striking Hard in the back.

Another witness, who told the court he had served in the military for 22 years, said he heard three or four shots during the rapidly unfolding incident.

Defence lawyers have questioned witnesses closely about the sequence and timing of events during the confrontation.

Hard was later found critically injured in Carterton and died despite emergency services attending.

Taukei’aho and Sue deny murder, and the allegations against them remain to be determined by the jury.

The trial has been allocated five weeks and is continuing.

Tongan dancer and teacher Mele Ta’e’iloa has become an overnight social-media sensation after an unexpected appearance on stage with international pop star Jason Derulo in Auckland.

Ta’e’iloa, an Auckland-based dancer who teaches dance at Manurewa High School, was attending Derulo’s performance when an opportunity arose for her to join the American singer on stage.

What followed quickly attracted widespread attention online, with footage of Ta’e’iloa dancing alongside Derulo spreading across social media and attracting more than one million views within hours.

The performance was particularly remarkable because Ta’e’iloa had only a few minutes to prepare before stepping onto the stage.

She had not previously heard the song, Mi Chico, and was given only a short time to learn some of the choreography before performing it in front of the Auckland audience.

The latter part of her performance was freestyle, allowing the Tongan dancer to draw on her own experience and training.

The opportunity came after one of Ta’e’iloa’s friends, who was among the dancers performing at the concert, contacted her shortly before the number and invited her to take part.

Although the appearance was therefore partly arranged, Ta’e’iloa had little advance preparation and had not expected when she left home for the concert that she would end the night performing alongside one of the world’s best-known pop artists.

By the following morning, videos of her performance were circulating widely and her phone had been flooded with messages and social-media notifications.

The viral moment has also drawn attention to Taeiloa’s work away from the concert stage.

She teaches dance at Manurewa High School in South Auckland, an area with one of New Zealand’s largest Pacific communities, while also working a second job.

Her sudden rise to online attention has prompted strong reaction from viewers, including Tongans celebrating seeing one of their own confidently taking an unexpected opportunity on an international artist’s stage.

One commenter said: “Mālō Mele, you represented Tonga with confidence and made us proud.”

Another wrote: “She was given one opportunity and she absolutely made the most of it. That Tongan energy!”

A third commenter joked: “Jason Derulo may have been the star, but Mele stole the show.”

The appearance has transformed what began as an ordinary night out for Taeiloa into a viral showcase of Tongan talent before an audience extending far beyond the Auckland concert venue.

A young New Zealand-born Tongan woman has become the first Pasifika student to graduate from the University of Auckland with a Bachelor of Commerce and Bachelor of Sport, Health and Physical Education conjoint degree.

Meleana Payn, the youngest of five children and only daughter of Siliva and Joyce Payn, traces her Tongan roots to Mailetaha, Tongatapu, and Neiafu, Vavaʻu.

Her graduation carries particular significance for her family, whose journey in New Zealand began when her maternal grandfather, Kapeliele Cocker, migrated from Tonga in the late 1960s seeking greater opportunities for his family.

“Everything I’ve been able to achieve is because of the sacrifices and opportunities he helped create for our family,” Payn said.

Education was strongly encouraged in her household, with Payn saying tertiary study was regarded as an expectation rather than simply an option.

She said her parents did not have the same educational opportunities while growing up in Tonga, making her achievement part of a family aspiration extending across generations.

Payn also credited Māori and Pacific support programmes at the university, including Tuākana Business and Commerce ‘o Pasifika and Pasifika Success within Sport, Health and Physical Education, for helping her succeed.

She said being surrounded by Pacific people provided strength and confidence and connected her with mentors who became role models and part of her university whānau.

Payn said that while she was honoured to be among the first Pasifika graduates completing the conjoint pathway, the greater significance was helping other Māori and Pacific students see themselves succeeding in higher education.

“What matters is creating pathways where our people can see themselves succeeding and feel confident enough to take up space in those places themselves,” she said.

Her academic journey is continuing, with Payn now studying a Master of Business in Sport Leadership and Management at Auckland University of Technology.

Influenced by her father’s involvement in rugby in Tonga and New Zealand, her research interests centre on increasing opportunities for Pacific people in sport leadership and management.

Alongside her postgraduate studies, Payn is Tuākana Business Head Tutor Pacific, a role through which she hopes to provide other Māori and Pacific students with the support she received during her own studies.

For Payn, the graduation belongs not only to her but to the family and community that supported her.

“I owe it all to my village,” she said. “This is a huge win for all of us. But I also know the job’s not finished.”

Tonga’s Supreme Court has warned that illegal importation of firearms and ammunition is increasing and should attract custodial sentences, as a 79-year-old man was given a fully suspended 12-month prison term for illegally importing 258 rounds of ammunition from the United States.

August William Hoeft pleaded guilty on August 21 to importing 258 rounds of .22 long-range ammunition without an import licence and failing to declare the ammunition, both offences under the Customs and Excise Management Act.

Justice Tupou KC sentenced Hoeft in the Supreme Court at Neiafu on September 16.

The Court heard that two plastic bins belonging to Hoeft arrived in Tongatapu from the United States in May 2025.

An electronic scan detected ammunition inside one of the bins. Customs later found the 258 rounds concealed inside a plastic bottle.

A Police Armoury Report found the ammunition was in good condition for use and that Hoeft did not have a licence to import it. When confronted about failing to declare the ammunition, Hoeft insisted he had an import licence, but the claim later proved to be untrue.

Court warns of increasing offending

Justice Tupou said offences involving the illegal importation of firearms and ammunition now warranted custodial sentences.

“It is without question that this type of criminal activity is recently increasing,” the judge said.

The Court noted that sentencing practice had shifted from fines towards imprisonment because of the need for deterrence.

Justice Tupou described the importation of the 258 rounds without a licence and the decision not to declare them as a serious offence involving an intentional disregard of laws governing prohibited goods.

The judge said sentencing had to take account of punishment, denunciation and deterrence as well as the potential misuse of ammunition and the resulting risk to community and public security.

Hoeft’s defence argued that there was no allegation involving a firearm, violence, drugs, trafficking, sale, commercial activity, bribery, interference with Customs or any wider criminal enterprise.

It also argued that 258 rounds were at the lower end of ammunition-importation offending and proposed a total fine of $1,500 instead of imprisonment.

However, Justice Tupou rejected the suggestion that the absence of those other criminal factors mitigated Hoeft’s offending.

The judge also rejected the argument that 258 rounds was an insignificant quantity, saying the ammunition was legally classified as prohibited goods, had been imported without a licence and declaration, and could pose a security risk if it fell into the wrong hands or was used illegally.

Age and ill health spare jail

The Crown proposed a starting point of 18 months’ imprisonment for the illegal importation and six months for failing to declare the ammunition, with the sentences to run concurrently.

Justice Tupou adopted those starting points and deducted six months for Hoeft’s early guilty plea and cooperation with Police, leaving a final sentence of 12 months’ imprisonment.

The defence told the Court Hoeft was 79 and in ill health. He was described as a long-standing member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and as “respectful, cooperative and dependable”.

Justice Tupou said Hoeft’s advanced age and ill health made actual imprisonment inappropriate.

The 12-month sentence was therefore fully suspended for 18 months.

During that period Hoeft must not commit an offence punishable by imprisonment, must remain on probation and report immediately to the probation office.

He was also ordered to pay a $3,000 fine within two weeks or serve three months in prison.

The Court warned that breaching the suspension conditions could result in the suspension being cancelled and Hoeft being required to serve the balance of his prison sentence.

All 258 rounds of ammunition were ordered forfeited under the Customs and Excise Management Act.

Tributes are flowing for a man killed in an alleged road crash at Veitongo, Tonga, on Saturday, with family and friends remembering him as a quiet, loving and hardworking person devoted to his church and village.

Pāhulu Hafoka died after he was allegedly struck by a vehicle while riding his bicycle, his brother Talanoa Hafoka confirmed to Kaniva News.

The matter is currently with Tonga Police and Kaniva News is withholding further details about the circumstances of the incident at this stage.

Talanoa described his brother as a loving person who worked hard and regularly travelled around by bicycle.

He said the family had been planning for Pāhulu to travel to Australia for a visit before his life was suddenly cut short.

News of his death prompted an outpouring of grief from kāinga and friends, who posted messages of condolence and memories of him on Facebook.

“Oh, my heart is broken to hear he died from a fatal crash,” one commenter wrote.

Another remembered Pāhulu for his quiet nature and service to his community.

“I felt for Pahulu as he is very silent and worked on his own for the church and village. Gone too soon,” the commenter wrote.

The tragedy has left his family and community mourning a man remembered for his good conduct, quiet character and willingness to work for others.

Family and friends are being encouraged to rally around Pāhulu’s loved ones as they come to terms with his sudden death.

Tonga Prime Minister Lord Fakafanua has warned world leaders that the Pacific must not become a staging ground for military escalation or major-power rivalry, as he called for reform of the international system and stronger action on climate change and ocean protection.

Delivering Tonga’s national statement at the 81st United Nations General Assembly in New York on September 25, Lord Fakafanua reaffirmed Tonga’s commitment to the Pacific Islands Forum’s 2050 Strategy for the Blue Pacific Continent and the region’s declaration as an Ocean of Peace.

“Our Ocean of Peace is more than the absence of conflict,” the Prime Minister said, pointing to transnational crime, illicit drugs, illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing, cyber threats and the unresolved consequences of nuclear testing and radioactive contamination among challenges confronting the region.

His remarks came as Pacific governments seek to maintain greater regional agency amid increasing geopolitical competition and security engagement by major powers.

Lord Fakafanua also used his UN address to argue that international institutions established after World War II were no longer adequately reflecting contemporary global realities.

“Too much of the international architecture still reflects the world of 1945 rather than today’s realities,” he said.

“If the United Nations is to remain the principal vehicle through which sovereign nations confront global challenges, it must transform.”

He called for a stronger UN General Assembly, a more inclusive and representative Security Council and reforms to the international financial system to provide faster and more accessible financing for countries most in need.

Climate change remained central to Tonga’s statement, with Lord Fakafanua warning that exceeding the 1.5C warming threshold should not be treated as a reason to abandon efforts to limit global temperature increases.

“Every fraction of a degree matters,” he said, calling for any overshoot to be limited in extent and duration and for temperatures to be brought below 1.5C as quickly as possible.

The Prime Minister urged major greenhouse-gas emitters to attend pre-COP31 meetings scheduled for Fiji and Tuvalu next month.

“Come to the Pacific and confront what 1.5 degrees means for our water, our food, our homes and our people,” he said.

He also called for greater international backing for Pacific-designed climate resilience initiatives, including the Pacific Resilience Facility and Weather Ready Pacific, as well as Tonga’s Climate Trust Fund.

Lord Fakafanua argued that climate change, biodiversity loss and ocean degradation could no longer be addressed as largely separate international issues.

“We cannot keep negotiating climate, biodiversity and the ocean in separate processes when they form an interconnected ecosystem requiring coherent solutions,” he said.

Tonga intends to protect at least 30 percent of its ocean by 2030, while the Government is targeting 70 percent renewable electricity by 2030 and 100 percent by 2035, according to the statement.

The Prime Minister also announced that Tonga intends to convene a Polynesian Ocean Summit in May 2027, bringing together governments, communities, scientists and international partners to strengthen ocean governance and turn regional commitments into practical action.

Pacific Islands Forum leaders had already welcomed the Polynesian Leaders Group’s intention to convene such a summit in 2027 as a Pacific-led platform for ocean governance, marine conservation and the blue economy.

Lord Fakafanua also turned to artificial intelligence and other emerging technologies, arguing that Small Island Developing States should have a role in determining the international rules governing technological change.

“Tonga does not need to be first in artificial intelligence, quantum computing or every technology that follows,” he said.

“But we will not simply endure global transformation. We will exercise sovereignty by helping shape the rules and norms that govern it.”

Before the General Assembly, Tonga had signalled that climate action, energy security, connectivity, sustainable development and the priorities of Small Island Developing States would be among the major issues its delegation would raise in New York.

Lord Fakafanua concluded Tonga’s message by reaffirming the Kingdom’s support for a more representative and responsive multilateral system that gives greater recognition to the vulnerabilities and priorities of small island states.