Spying on grand scale unlikely

The prime minister is downplaying talk of mass surveillance as attention turns to whether New Zealand’s security agencies could have foreseen and prevented the Christchurch terror attack.

Jacinda Ardern has indicated a reluctance to entertain any wholesale strengthening of the agencies’ power and capabilities.

Instead, she suggested an investigation into how they might have prevented the shocking attack could be more likely to turn up answers around how existing resources could have been more appropriately used.

On Monday, she announced a royal commission of inquiry into the March 15 attack.

Ardern said it would look into the role of all security agencies in the lead-up to the March 15 attack.

Yesterday, Ardern said she was not setting any expectations on the findings of the impending royal commission, particularly related to spying.

‘‘Obviously, I am privy to the conversations that I have directly with our agencies, some of that I’ve shared in response to questions over whether or not our New Zealand SIS were looking at Right-wing violent extremists, for instance.’’

It comes after National Party leader Simon Bridges called on the Government to revisit Project Speargun – a reportedly defunct spying capability that the government, under former prime minister John Key, walked away from.