The Government has apologised to the Muslim community for systemic shortcomings revealed by the Royal Commission report into the Christchurch terror attack, with a suite of changes on the way
New Zealand’s counter-terrorism laws will be strengthened, a new ministry for ethnic communities established, and police recording of hate crime improved in response to a report into the March 15 terror attack.
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and the country’s security agencies have also offered an apology to the Muslim community for years of disproportionate scrutiny, with Ardern saying: “You, and every New Zealander, deserve a system that does its best to keep you safe.”
The Government has agreed in principle to implement all 44 recommendations made by the Royal Commission of Inquiry into the Terrorist Attack on Christchurch masjidain, publicly released on Tuesday afternoon.
The Royal Commission found there was “no plausible way [the terrorist] could have been detected but by chance”.
However, it outlined a range of deficiencies in need of addressing, including the inappropriate concentration of counter-terrorism resources on the threat of Islamist extremism, substandard administration of the firearms vetting system by police, and the lack of a public-facing counter-terrorism strategy to ensure New Zealanders knew when and how to report potential threats.
In remarks directed at the Muslim community and the country more widely, Ardern said: “You, and others, have made New Zealand your home. You, and every New Zealander, deserve a system that does its best to keep you safe.”
While the Royal Commission had not found any failures within government agencies that would have allowed the terrorist’s planning and preparation to be detected, Ardern said there were a number of areas where significant change was required.
“The Commission made no findings that these issues would have stopped the attack. But these were both failings nonetheless and for that I apologise.”
The Muslim community had raised concerns for years about the disproportionate scrutiny they faced from security and intelligence agencies, supported by the report’s confirmation of an “inappropriate concentration of resources”, while failures within the firearms licensing system had also been identified.
“The Commission made no findings that these issues would have stopped the attack. But these were both failings nonetheless and for that I apologise.”
Ardern said the Government needed to ensure there was an adequate focus of resources on the range of threats New Zealand faced, while enhancing security and intelligence functions and focusing more on the importance of social cohesion.
Andrew Little would be placed in charge of coordinating the government response to the report and the implementation of its recommendations, with a multi-agency steering group set up to provide a “roadmap” in the first quarter of 2021.
A ministry for ethnic communities would be set up by mid-2021, replacing the current, lower-status Office of Ethnic Communities, while an Ethnic Communities Graduate Programme would also be created to provide 30 graduates a “meaningful first employment opportunity” within the public service.
Justice Minister Kris Faafoi said the Government had asked officials to fast-track work on counter-terrorism legislation following the Christchurch attack, and would now move ahead with a range of amendments to improve the law.
The definition of a “terrorist act” would be clarified, while new offences would be created to cover the act of planning or preparing for a terrorist act, as well as the use of terrorist weapons and combat training.
Cabinet had also previously agreed to create a new offence covering international travel to carry out terrorist activity, and an expansion of the existing crime of financing terrorism to include broader forms of material support.
Separately, the Government will strengthen provisions against hate speech through redefining the existing criminal offence of incitement and increasing penalties.
Ardern said the fact that the Government had not yet delivered a detailed response to all of the 44 recommendations, including the establishment of a new security and intelligence agency and the creation of specific hate crime offences, was not a reflection of its view on their merits.
“This is not a comprehensive list: we have balanced here the calls for the community to move quickly and not start with yet another blank sheet of paper, with the calls to also engage on issues where we need to tread carefully in the design and implementation of recommendations.”
“Significant restructures” like the new agency would take some time to work through, while in the case of hate crimes she wanted to work across Parliament to ensure any legislation did not become politicised.
Ardern said she would not shy away from the Royal Commission’s remarks that politicians needed to work harder to develop a social licence for the work of intelligence and counterterrorism agencies, but that could not be done at the expense of minority communities.
“The challenge for us as a nation will be how do we build a greater awareness of the risks that we face, but at the same time, make sure that we do not create an environment where we do not unduly target members of our community in counterterrorism efforts.”
“NZSIS should have done better at explaining our role to the community and listening to their concerns. I know that a number of people have found this upsetting, and to them I apologise.”
Responding to the report, NZ Security Intelligence Service director-general Rebecca Kitteridge apologised to the Muslim community for making them feel as if they were under suspicion when that was not the case.
“NZSIS should have done better at explaining our role to the community and listening to their concerns. I know that a number of people have found this upsetting, and to them I apologise.”
Kitteridge said it was clear the intelligence agencies needed to ensure there was “an appropriate and adequate focus of resources on the range of threats New Zealand faces”, and she would work with others across the national security system to ensure that was the case.
She believed she was the right person to lead the NZSIS response to the report, saying she had worked hard to build a constructive relationship with the Muslim community upon taking the role – although she accepted concerns about a 2016 speech which some said had framed terrorism as a Muslim issue.
The NZ Police, who were found to have had an insufficiently robust firearms licensing system, also offered an apology to the victims of the attack and their families.
Police Commissioner Andrew Coster said police administration of the Arms Act had not always met public expectations, and work was already underway to address the issues which had been identified.
Coster said police were also strengthening their intelligence capabilities – with the degradation of the agency’s role in assessing strategic terrorism threats cited by the Royal Commission – although “full realisation of the programme’s objectives remains contingent on resourcing”.
The Government has also announced it will establish a new NZ Police programme, ‘Te Raranga – the Weave’, to improve the identification, recording and management of hate crimes.
As the Royal Commission had only covered events leading up to March 15, police would release the findings of an internal inquiry into how they responded to the attack itself to help address any unanswered questions the victims’ families and wider community had.
