New Zealand

Royal Commission of Inquiry into the Terrorist Attack on Christchurch Mosques on 15 March 2019: findings and what happened next

The terrorist attack on two mosques in Christchurch on 15 March 2019, and what state agencies knew beforehand.

Country

New Zealand

Type

royal commission

Report published

8 December 2020

Recommendations

44

What the inquiry found

1. The royal commission found no failures by government agencies that would have allowed them to detect the attacker's planning and preparation.²
2. The royal commission identified an inappropriate concentration of counter-terrorism resources on the threat of Islamist extremist terrorism, and failings in the firearms licensing system.²
3. The royal commission made no finding that these failings would have stopped the attack.²
4. The royal commission received 1,168 submissions.¹

Key recommendations

• Recommendations included a new national intelligence and security agency, a counter-terrorism advisory group and changes to hate speech law, which the later government decided not to progress.³

What happened next

• 8 December 2020Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern apologised for the failings, and the government agreed in principle to all 44 recommendations, announcing a Ministry for Ethnic Communities and amendments to the Terrorism Suppression Act.²
• 2 August 2024Minister Judith Collins said the formal response had concluded, with 36 of 44 recommendations implemented or integrated into work programmes and 8 not progressed.³

Read the report: christchurchattack.royalcommission.nz/

Sources

1. Royal Commission of Inquiry, Royal Commission of Inquiry into the Terrorist Attack on Christchurch Mosques (8 December 2020)
2. New Zealand Government (Beehive), Government accepts all Royal Commission recommendations (8 December 2020)
3. RNZ, Government won't progress remaining 8 recommendations of Christchurch terror attack commission (2 August 2024)