Ardern calls NZ massacre royal commission
A royal commission into the massacre of 50 people at two Christchurch mosques will focus on whether it was preventable.
The massacre of 50 people at two Christchurch mosques will be the subject of a New Zealand royal commission, with the top-level inquiry to focus on whether the March 15 killings were preventable.
In announcing the independent probe yesterday, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said agencies under the microscope would include police, customs and immigration, as well as New Zealand spy agencies the Security Intelligence Service and Government Communications Security Bureau.
The commission’s specific terms of reference would be finalised within a fortnight.
“In short, the inquiry will look at what could have or should have been done to prevent the attack,” Ms Ardern said.
“While New Zealanders and Muslim communities around the world are both grieving and showing compassion for one another, they are also quite rightly asking questions on how this terror attack was able to happen here.
“There will be a focus on whether our intelligence community was concentrating its resources appropriately and whether there were any reports that could, or should, have alerted them to this attack.”
The alleged killer, 28-year-old Australian man Brenton Tarrant, has so far been charged with only one count of murder.
He returns to court next week, where he is expected to face additional charges.
The white supremacist, who frequented far-right online forums where he posted his 74-page “manifesto” ahead of the killings, was not on the radar of security intelligence services in either New Zealand or Australia.
“I want recommendations on how any such attack in the future could be stopped,” Ms Ardern said.
Australian senator Rex Patrick said yesterday he would push for a parliamentary inquiry into far-right extremist groups in Australia following the federal election in May.
The Centre Alliance senator said “there was much work to be done” in Australia if the country wanted to avoid being the target of a far-right attack, as had occurred in New Zealand and Europe before that.
“The fact that the Christchurch mass murderer was not on any counter-terrorism watch list, and indeed may have never come to the attention of security authorities in Australia and New Zealand, strongly suggests that there has been an insufficient focus on right-wing extremism,” Senator Patrick said.
“There has undoubtedly been greatly more surveillance of mosques and Muslim worshippers than far-right extremist groups as well as social media and internet chat rooms they use to share their hateful ideas.
“There is, in fact, a real dearth of hard information and analysis on right-wing extremist violence in Australia.
“The scale of this threat must be rigorously assessed in light of the Christchurch tragedy,” Senator Patrick said.
Ms Ardern confirmed yesterday that she would travel to China next week for the first time since becoming Prime Minister in late 2017. The trip, however, has been shortened because of the Christchurch killings.
“This is an important visit, New Zealand places a high priority on our relationship with China,” Ms Ardern said. “I look forward to our ongoing engagement.”
Additional reporting: AAP
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