Christchurch and South Island Terrorism

The terrorist who committed the atrocity on March 15, 2019 was an Australian. Looking into his background there is nothing to suggest he came to New Zealand to commit an act of terror. NZ must face the ugly truth; it is likely he was radicalised in Aotearoa.

Is this a gun control issue? It appears he may have broken the law in getting his gun license and one of the rifles he used looks to have been modified into an advanced E category semi-automatic, not the lowest classification A category the terrorist had a license for. Bad people can get guns any time, further gun controls just make it harder to shoot the pests which damage the environment. So more gun controls won't work.

What will work? NZ needs to address the climate of xenophobia and racism that permeates its society. In particular, the South Island where white supremacist groups have operated my whole adult life. They have extreme views and are readily violent. It is highly likely that the terrorist did not act alone. There was a great degree of planning in the attack and while he was the sole shooter, others out there aided and abetted him, find them and bring them to justice.

Then we need to be intolerant towards intolerance. Every day in NZ, the media give platforms to so-called 'hosts' on the TV and radio who foment unrest with their dog-whistling comments. These people are very sly, they're as slippery as eels, never going too far and changing direction or flipping quickly to the cause or talking point of the day, they're always chasing headlines and ratings. They don't care who gets hurt, today they've got blood on their hands. Call the media companies and let them know they have to rid NZ of their voices. Kiwis - you know who they are.