Patricide charged on Pacific isle

A man has been charged with the murder of his politician father on Norfolk Island - only the second alleged murder on the tiny Pacific isle in 150 years.

The island's first recorded murder - the killing of a woman in 29-year-old woman in 2002 - remains unsolved.

The body of Deputy Chief Minister Ivens Buffett, nicknamed "Toons", was found by police at his office on Monday.

The case has shocked the Australian territory's tightly-knit community of 1,800 inhabitants.

Leith Buffett, 25, appeared in Norfolk Island magistrates court on Tuesday. He did not enter a plea and was remanded in custody.

He is to undergo a psychiatric assessment before his next court appearance on 3 August.

Norfolk Island Chief Minister Geoff Gardner said the community was "devastated".

"We have faced in the last couple of years two horrific tragedies on the island, and the community has to live with that," he told ABC news.

"It's devastated us, but we are a resilient community and we have to work our way through this, which we will."

Mr Buffett suffered a gunshot wound but the exact cause of his death cannot be decided until a post-mortem examination, police said.

Mystery case

The 2002 murder of Janelle Patton prompted an unprecedented police investigation which saw nearly all the island's residents finger-printed. The murderer has not been found.

Many of the island's residents are direct descendants of mutineers from the 18th century British naval vessel, HMS Bounty.

They moved to Norfolk Island from Pitcairn Island, further east in the Pacific Ocean, in the 19th century.

To this day, many share the same surnames and adopt nicknames to identify themselves.