Government cost-cutting leaving country open to terrorism, Muslim group says

Al Noor Mosque in Christchurch. Photo / George Heard

By RNZ

The Federation of Islamic Associations (Fianz) says the Government must reconsider deprioritising and defunding much of the country’s national security framework.

A recent Security Intelligence Service threat assessment says a “terrorist attack on New Zealand soil remains a realistic possibility” and would most likely come from a “self-radicalised” person who acts alone.

Fianz chairman Abdur Razzaq said the value of the report was dependent on the proper funding of resources to monitor and respond to potential threats.

Cost-cutting was breaking down the security scaffolding designed to prevent a repeat of the Christchurch mosque shootings, he said.

Fianz's Abdur Razzaq. Photo / Mark Mitchell

The Government had curtailed the country’s ability to research, monitor and respond to potential threats, he said.

“So we are requesting the Government to actually look at their budget and give this a high priority because reports like this are barometers of how unsafe we are - and we are.”

Last month, the Government announced it would not progress the final eight recommendations of the Royal Commission into the terrorist attack on two Christchurch mosques in which 51 people were shot dead on March 15, 2019.

Razzaq said the Government had ignored a Royal Commission recommendation to establish a dedicated agency to co-ordinate anti-terror initiatives.

“After March 15, no agencies said that they were responsible because nobody was looking, and because they weren’t looking, they didn’t find anything.

“What the Royal Commission recommended [is] there should be a single agency which would co-ordinate and have a strategic direction in terms of our national security, and that’s gone.”

Razzaq said cuts to the Department of Internal Affairs, police and locally-led initiatives and research were undermining the lessons from the 2019 attack on two Christchurch mosques.

- RNZ

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