The threat of far-right extremism in New Zealand - The Front Page

White nationalist beliefs were behind the terror attack on March 15 against Christchurch's Muslim community. Photo / Michael Craig

A leading expert on extremism in New Zealand believes more can be done to tackle the threat posed by the far right.

Last week marked five years since the Christchurch mosque terror attack, when 51 Muslim worshippers were killed by white supremacist Brenton Tarrant.

The anniversary came days after a hearing was held to determine what a coronial inquest into the 2021 New Lynn terror attack - when Islamic State supporter Ahamed Aathill Mohamed Samsudeen stabbed five shoppers at a supermarket - should investigate.

While the two attacks had very different motives, Massey University distinguished professor Paul Spoonley told The Front Page, the Herald’s daily news podcast, that far-right extremism is by far the biggest threat to national security.

“The white supremacist, ultra-nationalists are much more of a threat, I would argue, in this country. And when you look at the international literature, if you look at the United States, for example, the level of threat posed by the far right as opposed to religious fundamentalism and terrorism is quite different.

“And over recent years, the last three to five years, that far-right threat has been responsible for a lot more acts of terror in the United States than religious fundamentalism, and I think that applies to New Zealand as well.”

Spoonley said the Royal Commission of Inquiry into the March 15 attack highlighted that the attack had caught out our security and intelligence agencies and that people had believed New Zealand was somehow different to the rest of the world.

“Those events in 2019 showed that we’re not.”

In 2020, Spoonley estimated between 150 and 300 individuals in New Zealand had links to the far right - a figure which, per capita, puts NZ on the same level as a country like Germany. And while he can’t put a number on it now, he believes Covid-19 and the resulting anxieties and conspiracy theories caused by the pandemic would have pushed more people into those views.

He said we need to hear more from the members of the communities that are being targeted, such as Muslim, Jewish, trans and Māori communities.

“For most of us, a lot of that material is invisible. We’re not the targets. We don’t have any reason to look at it. We’re probably not able to look at much of it anyway. And so we do need to listen to the people who are experiencing this in our community.”

He says the Federation of Islamic Associations of New Zealand has written a submission over the new Government’s plans to alter the ban on firearms that was introduced after the March 15 attack, citing how opposed they are to any changes to this law.

In terms of the Government’s plans, Spoonley said, he is simply not sure what those plans are, and if they will act on the Royal Commission’s recommendations.

“I would also acknowledge that what’s happening in terms of social media is a real challenge, and quite how any country, any Government, can minimise the negative consequences of online hate is a challenge for all of us, and I don’t think there are easy answers to that, so, but, I’m not expecting the Government to come up with something that would suddenly answer that particular challenge.”

Listen to the full episode to hear more about the threats posed to New Zealand by extremism.

The Front Page is a daily news podcast from the New Zealand Herald, available to listen to every weekday from 5am. The podcast is presented by Chelsea Daniels, an Auckland-based journalist with a background in world news and crime/justice reporting who joined NZME in 2016.

You can follow the podcast at iHeartRadio, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.