From frontline officer to King's Honour: Neru Leifi recognised for decades of service

Inspector Neru Leifi says he first thought someone was playing a joke on him when he was told he would be made a Member of The New Zealand Order of Merit (MNZM).

“To be very honest with you, I thought it was a prank, and I endeavoured to find out who the pranksters were,” he tells PMN News. “But then when I dug down deeper, it was the real deal.”

The Canterbury-based police inspector says he was “blown away” by the honour and humbled by the recognition.

“I’m still now sort of finding the words … it’s not just for me, there’s a load of other people who’ve helped me along the way for me to be where I am now.”

Leifi, who is of Māori and Sāmoan descent, has served in the New Zealand Police for almost 42 years and now works as Canterbury Police’s Māori, Pacific and Ethnic Services Manager.

His career started on the frontline in Gisborne during the 1980s including the rise of the Ruatoria Rastas and later included peacekeeping deployments in the Solomon Islands.

Catching crocs in the Solomon Islands. Photo/Supplied

One of those missions involved confronting dangerous wildlife in a conflict zone.

“People were going missing, and when we opened up the larger, 17-foot crocodile, it had human remains inside. We stopped a civil war between two tribes.”

Leifi has also worked across the Pacific region including mentoring police in Niue and helping deliver training in Indonesia on countering violent extremism through community policing.

Working with Niue police and government officials. Photo/Supplied

He says his values were shaped early by mentors including former Labour MP Dame Winnie Laban, who was once his Sunday school teacher.

“She will tell you that I was a naughty boy, but I wasn’t.”

He also credits Ken Laban, now Mayor of Lower Hutt, and his church minister as key influences in his path into public service.

“We have a saying in Samoa, ‘O le ala i le pule o le tautua’, to seek leadership is through service,” he says.

“I was going to probably be one of three things: a social worker, a minister, or a police officer. So I chose the latter.”

Throughout his career, Leifi has focused on building trust between police and Māori, Pacific and ethnic communities in Aotearoa and overseas.

Coordinating rescue efforts of more than 100 people from a building damaged in the 2011 Christchurch earthquakes. Photo/Supplied

“With our people, we’re all about relationships and partnerships,” he says. “The community is a big part of it. My colleagues, I’ve got a good group of support behind me … they’re a cheeky lot, but they get me through the day.”

His career has also placed him at the centre of some of Aotearoa’s most significant events, including the Christchurch earthquakes in 2011 and the Christchurch mosque attacks in 2019 where he helped coordinate the rescue of more than 100 people from a damaged building.

“There were 110 people in there, I know because I wrote them all down.”

Despite a long career in policing, Leifi says family remains his anchor.

His wife and two adult children will join him at Government House for the investiture ceremony later this year.

“Every job I go to which is quite critical ... I’ve always rung home,” he says.

Listen to Neru Leifi's full interview below.

His wife’s response is always the same. “She says to me, ‘big job’, and I just say to her, ‘yep, big job’, and then she says, ‘don’t forget the bread and milk’. That’s the one that humbles me the most.”

After more than four decades in uniform, Leifi says he has no plans to retire yet and remains driven by service to community, culture, and family.

Leifi is one of 178 New Zealanders named in the2026 King's Birthday Honours, among them 12 recipients of Pacific heritage.

The honours are administered through the New Zealand Government and Governor-General system. The New Zealand honours system is overseen by the Honours Unit within the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. Nominations are reviewed before recommendations are made, with the final honours list announced each year around King's Birthday and New Year.

More details on the 2026 King’s Birthday Honours List are available on the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet website.