Christchurch shooting LIVE: Ardern confirms NZ to toughen gun laws

For more, read our wrap on today's events following Friday's terror attack on two Christchurch mosques that left 50 people dead and dozens more injured.

Candles are lit by school children for the victims of Friday's attacks on Christchurch mosques.Credit: Jason South

Ambulance officers have described the horrific scene that met them at two Christchurch mosques on Friday after a gunman killed 50 people and injured dozens more. Warning: video contains distressing descriptions. 

An Adelaide man who posted social media comments in support of the Christchurch mosque massacre has been granted bail on condition he keep off the internet.

Chad Rolf Vinzelberg, 37, hung his head and wept as he faced Elizabeth Magistrates Court on Monday charged with one count of aggravated possessing a firearm without a licence and four counts of using or possessing a prohibited weapon.

Police prosecutor Brevet Sergeant Peter Finey told the court police were on Friday made aware of comments posted by Vinzelberg and photos that showed him with a firearm.

"It was after the Christchurch massacre," he said.

"He posted certain things on Facebook in support of that."

The court heard the discovery led police to search Vinzelberg's home at Smithfield, north of Adelaide, where they seized a fake pistol, extendable baton and two flick knives from under his mattress, and a medieval mace and crossbow from his shed.

AAP

A Pakistani teacher and father of three who was shot dead by a gunman in Christchurch will receive a national award for trying to stop the shooter.

Naeem Rashid, 50, and his son Talha, 21, were both killed in the mass shooting at two mosques in New Zealand on Friday.

Video footage of the shootings showed Naeem Rashid trying to tackle the gunman before being shot.

Rashid has become a national hero in his native country, after video footage of the shootings showed him trying to tackle the gunman outside one mosque before being shot.

"My brother was a brave man who died to save others. His death showed how he cared for humanity," Rashid's brother Khurshid Alam said in a telephone interview on Sunday from his home in Abbottabad, Pakistan.

Read the full account of Rashid's heroism here.

Remember when Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton flagged a special refugee intake of white South African farmers on the grounds of "in-country persecution"? Jacqueline Maley argues that was a good example of how politicians and media can expand what is called the Overton Window.

Home Affairs Minister Peter DuttonCredit: Alex Ellinghausen

Named after American political scientist Joseph Overton, the term describes the window of discourse, the range of ideas, tolerated in public debate.

In the days since the Christchurch massacre, there has been a reckoning about how much the Overton Window has shifted, in this country, to allow white nationalist ideology become part of the mainstream; and, Maley writes, in giving the "white people are persecuted" idea the imprimatur of the federal government, Dutton helped usher in those ideas.

Read her full opinion piece here.

A former NZ Immigration Minister says New Zealand residency should be guaranteed to the families of those killed in last Friday's Christchurch mosque shootings, Stuff reports.

Tuariki Delamere, who is now an immigration advisor, says without residency some family members of victims might risk being told to leave the country.

The Government has said they are considering visa "options" for those affected.

"The last thing they would need is to wake up next week having just buried their husband, wife or child and have these visa concerns," Mr Delamere said.

"I just want the Government and minister to see fit to just do it, with no investigations or medical checks - if a person ends up needing a heart transplant, that's a cost the nation should bear... this is the least we can do."

Former Prime Minister Tony Abbott Credit: Photo: Eddie Jim

Former PM Tony Abbott says he no longer stands by his controversial 2017 claim that "Islamophobia hasn't killed anyone", though he stopped short of expressing regret.

Mr Abbott made the remark in June 2017 in the immediate aftermath of the London Bridge terror attack, arguing officials were too scared of offending Muslims to debate Islamic terrorism properly.

More on this from Michael Koziol.

All Black Sonny Bill Williams won't captain the Blues against the Highlanders on Friday; instead, he is going to be in Christchurch raising money and supporting those affected by the Christchurch mosque shootings.

Williams, a Muslim, tweeted on Monday that he would be in Christchurch later this week, and asked followers to "please don't stop showing your support".

The Rugby player tweeted an emotional video in the wake of the shootings on Friday, saying "my heart is hurting" and that he was sending his "duas" (prayers).

The terrorism threat in NZ remains 'high' after Friday's attacks. Dr William Hoverd, a Senior Lecturer at the Centre for Defence and Security Studies at Massey University, told Stuff the biggest threat now comes from someone attempting to imitate the atrocity.

"The threat was always perceived as coming from Islamic radialisation. I don't think that they were looking at right-wing extremism, they were not looking at that sector of the population," he said.

There is an "intense" burial process ahead as the first body of a Christchurch mosque shooting victim has been released to the family, Stuff reports.

Candles are lit in a vigil for the victims of Friday's attacks.Credit: Jason South

Deputy police commissioner Wally Haumaha​ said the family had chosen not to accept the body yet. They had lost two family members and would take both bodies when the second autopsy was complete, he said.

Police hoped further bodies would be released by the middle of this week, with 90 Disaster Victim Identification workers assigned to the task.

"There will be a lot of decisions being made. There'll be those wanting to repatriate back to their home countries. There'll be those who want to bury within the timeframe that they receive these bodies. There'll be others that want to come together and have a mass burial."