Five years since terror attack, Govt has work to do
In the weeks after the Christchurch mosque terror attack in 2019, all but one MP stood in the House to support a quickly arranged ban of most semi-automatic firearms – the kind used by the terrorist to kill 51 people.
It was a moment of consensus, not just in Parliament but across the country, that a decisive response to such a horrific event was needed. But five years on, and after a Royal Commission of Inquiry made sweeping recommendations to prevent a repeat attack, the work committed to by the Government in December 2020 – 44 inquiry recommendations – remains unfinished.
Still incomplete are major recommendations such as creating a national security agency to oversee the counter-terror and security effort; reviewing counter-terror laws; putting out a public counter-terrorism and extremism strategy; and creating a system so the public can easily report people behaving in a concerning way.
Discussions about “restorative justice”, which could involve a compensation claim for the victims, have not been progressed.
Also begun, but not progressed, is making mandatory the reporting by medical professionals of firearm injuries to the police. The terrorist had, in the year before the attack, presented at Dunedin hospital having injured himself with a firearm – but this was not reported to police.
Another significant recommendation, to create a so-called hate speech law, will not go ahead. Labour delayed dealing with the issue while in power as National campaigned heavily against it, then agreed with coalition partner NZ First to halt any related work so it could form a government.
And the ban on semi-automatic firearms is set to be relitigated, at least partially, with those upset by this most immediate response having found a voice in the Government. But indications of public sentiment on the issue – not just the dismay of the attack victims and families – shows that this is likely to become a fraught issue.
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has promised to “close out” the Government’s response to the terror attacks, with decisions in the coming months. But there’s sensitivity within the Beehive about its plans as the fifth anniversary passes.
This week, before meeting victims and their families, Luxon was reluctant to speak about what might come. His minister in charge of the Government’s response, Judith Collins, declined to be interviewed, as it’s “a day to remember the 51 victims”.
He would not confirm if the Government would proceed with the hate speech recommendation. According to Kāpuia, the ministerial advisory group that meets with the Government on its response, the Law Commission was not to begin work on this until mid-2024, and the coalition deal says the Government will halt this.
Asked about the Government’s intention to rewrite the Arms Act, Luxon declined to rule out making semiautomatic firearms legal again.
Associate Justice Minister Nicole McKee – an ACT Party MP, who in 2019 was a spokesperson for the Council of Licensed Firearm Owners – has expressed interest in opening up access to semiautomatic firearms to sport shooters.
National supported that idea in 2019, but did not insist on it when the ban was passed into law.
Already the suggestion has been opposed by police and members of the Muslim community. A poll conducted by Talbot Mills, which does work for the Labour Party, indicates that the public wants a ban on semiautomatics to remain.
Those surveyed were asked “Do you support or oppose semiautomatic weapons being made legal again?”, and 73% were opposed, 11% said they were unsure, and 16% supported it. The Government has not suggested it would legalise semiautomatic firearms, and the pollsters did not ask about allowing groups such as sport shooters controlled access to such firearms.
Regardless, it’s clear that the political consensus on the issue may not be as strong as it was five years ago.