Sporting, science and community icons have been recognised in this year's prestigious list.
A lifetime serving Pacific communities in New Zealand has been rewarded with a New Year 2020 Honours King’s Service Medal (KSM) for New Zealand-born Havelock North church minister Rev Wayne Toleafoa.
Rev Toleafoa was born in Mangakino, where his father was working on the Waikato Hydro Power Scheme, and grewup in Auckland.
Leaving Mount Albert Grammar School, he linked with social justice movement the Polynesian Panthers in the 1970s and has been dedicated to empowering Pacific communities ever since.
In his youth, he held roles with the Pacific Islanders’ Presbyterian Church (PIPC), progressing to be the first Pacific Islander to graduate with a Master of Theology from Oxford University.
Rev Wayne Toleafoa, at work at St Columba's Church, Havelock North, to which he moved from Auckland in 2019. He has been awarded a King's Service Medal (KSM) in the New Year 2026 Honours for services to Pacific Island communities. Photo / Doug Laing
He held parish positions in Kurow and in Auckand, and was New Zealand Army chaplain from 1981-1992, and appointed Moderator of the Northern Presbytery in 2017.
Although not particularly familiar with Hawke’s Bay, apart from memories of holidays as a youngster at Porangahau, he accepted the role of parish minister at St Columba’s Presbyterian Church, Havelock North, and moved to the Bay with wife Jenny in 2019.
Havelock North parish minister Rev Wayne Toleafoa, who has been an advocate for social change for the Pacific Island communities for about 50 years, has been awarded a King's Service Medal (KSM) in the New Year Honours. Photo / Doug Laing
At Havelock North, he drove an initiative to encourage churches to adopt eco-friendly practices in collaboration with local non-profit entities, and built strong ties with Iona College, serving on its board of governors.
“I was surprised, and humbled,” he said, reacting to news of the recognition.
