Road rage attack: Kiwi pleads not guilty to killing Australian man

New Zealander Tamate Henry Heke leaves the Magistrates Court in Brisbane. Photo / AAP

A New Zealander accused of killing a Brisbane man by pushing him into the path of an oncoming truck during a road rage scuffle has pleaded not guilty to manslaughter.

Tamate Henry Heke allegedly pushed Shane Merrigan, 50, in front of a truck on the Gateway Motorway at Eight Mile Plains on December 1, 2015.

Heke pleaded not guilty to one count of manslaughter as his Brisbane Supreme Court trial began on Monday, as well as not guilty to an alternative charge of unlawful striking causing death.

Merrigan had a history of road rage dramas, police say. Photo/News Corp Australia

Police have alleged Heke got into a dispute with the victim over a traffic incident.

Both stopped their cars on the Pacific Motorway-Gateway Motorway merge and had an altercation between their two vehicles.

Heke then allegedly attacked Merrigan, causing him to fall into the truck's path.

The Brisbane Magistrates Court has previously heard while Heke had been a model citizen, Merrigan had a history of being involved in road rage dramas.

- AAP