TERROR IN CHRISTCHURCH

WITH LAX GUN LAWS AND RACISM IN SCHOOLS, WORKPLACES AND HOMES, IT IS EASY TO SEE HOW NEW ZEALAND BECAME A TARGET FOR AN ANTI-MUSLIM ATTACK

Three factors made normally peaceful New Zealand vulnerable to an anti-muslim terrorist attack: a history of white supremacy, proximity to Australia, and lax gun laws.

While New Zealand and Australia were being colonised by Britain during the 19th century, black indigenous peoples lost their land and were persecuted by white settlers who also adopted a racist attitude towards Chinese arrivals. During the 1920s New Zealand asked immigrants to apply for permanent residence before arriving in the country. The object was to prevent Indians and non-white British subjects from entering New Zealand.

Since then New Zealand has adopted a policy of accepting migrants with wanted skills and business experience. In recent years this has been adapted to favour wealthier immigrants who speak English over poorer ones who do not.

Although New Zealand is not known for racism, it exists in schools, workplaces, on the streets and in homes, writes Dr. Gaurav Sharma in Stuff in the wake of the Christchurch shooting by a white male which left 50 dead and 48 injured. He calls on New Zealanders to “measure our response to racism and terror not in lowers, but action.” Sharma said the massacre cannot be labelled “as a hate crime done by an outsider (Australian) in New Zealand.”

He continued, “If we fail to acknowledge that we do have a problem with racism in our own country, we will fail to address the issues that many of us coloured (New Zealanders) face on a day to day basis.” Sharma is a medical doctor and former Labour candidate for parliament.

Australia has a major problem with racism which has surged in recent years. Australia has adopted a frankly racist approach to immigrants by banning people who arrive in boats, many of them Muslims leeing war, persecution and poverty. Australia does not permit them to land and imprisons them in offshore camps. Rupert Murdoch’s Sky News — a purveyor of racist abuse in Australia, Britain and the US — carried live streaming of the attack on the two mosques in Christchurch even though the New Zealand government demanded the horrifying material to be removed from all media.

In New Zealand there are some 1.5 million irearms distributed among ive million people. Calls for banning semi-automatic weapons after the shootings have compelled the government to promise reform of gun laws. Earlier attempts to tighten gun laws have been defeated by the gun lobby as is the case in the US.

A 16-year old can buy a gun and an 18-year old can purchase military-type semi-automatic weapons. All owners must pass a background check involving criminal records and medical status and must have have a licence. Guns are not registered. Once licensed, an owner can buy any number of weapons.