NZ police and security get thumbs up ahead of Lions tour

New Zealand police and security personnel have received strong endorsement ahead of the Lions rugby tour.

But Neil Fergus, chief executive of Sydney-based Intelligent Risks company, who has worked in New Zealand on various major events, insisted the key point in keeping the tour safe was learning from past experience.

On the same day New Zealand Prime Minister Bill English was emphasising there was no indication of a heightened threat on the Lions tour in the wake of the Manchester atrocity, Fergus insisted it was important to keep the level of vigilance high.

Although it is alleged more than 100 people of Australian citizenship or permanent residency have been recruited to Daesh — the term increasingly used instead of Isis, because the terrorists don’t like it — “it is quite improbable to think there isn’t a New Zealand citizen or permanent resident over there, and probably several.

“It’s very hard to know that unless you’re getting good concrete intelli- gence and it’s a problem we face not just in Australia or the United Kingdom but all over the world.”

English said it was important attacks such as the one in Manchester on Tuesday, which has killed at least 22 people, are not allowed to “paralyse ongoing public life”.

Fergus, whose company specialises in security, crisis management and risk assessment in a range of areas, offered one piece of advice: learn from past major events — both the good and weaker points.

“Make sure you capture the learnings from successful security operations that New Zealand authorities have delivered in the past,” Fergus said.

He did some work on both the World Cup in 2011 and the Apec summit in 1999 and has been impressed with his experiences of New Zealand police and security.

“They have always had a very strong, robust posture in terms of terrorist threats.

“It’s not something New Zealand police have ever taken lightly. Their approach and attitude to major events, whether the America’s Cup, Apec or the Rugby World Cup was always very solid.”

Intelligence will be key and Fergus said he’s sure New Zealand authorities will be across which citizens have been in the Middle East recently and for what purposes.

Fergus also pointed to the part communities can play.

“Are people behaving strangely, arousing any suspicion they may have been radicalised? Those are things the New Zealand police will be looking at.”