The Ghost of New Zealand’s Terrorism Past and Present

Abstract

The attack on two Christchurch Mosques in March 2019 was met with shock by New Zealanders and those from many other countries. There were clear assumptions expressed in the media, by commentators, politicians and even a few supposed ‘experts’ that this was a new experience for New Zealand. Overseas expertise was instantly sought to deal with a problem apparently not encountered before. This article addresses the assumption of the non-existence of terrorism in New Zealand by outlining its impact here over the past 50 years, and contends that local experience should be given strong consideration in approaching current and future terrorist threats. While the scale of the Christchurch attack was unprecedented, lone actors driven by extremist ideologies to engage in violence to send a political message to New Zealanders, is nothing new. New Zealand would not have been caught so unprepared if it had paid more attention to key events in the recent past, and taken steps to mitigate terrorist risks that could have been foreseen.

From Hijackings to Right-Wing Extremism: The Drivers of New Zealand’s Counter-terrorism Legislation 1977 – 2020

“…New Zealanders have naively overlooked domestic deliberate and planned violence that coincided with increased political messaging and activism since the 1970s. 8 Whilst the sinking of the Rainbow Warrior sticks out, 9 activist violence, a foiled Ananda Marga plot in 1975, bombings at the NZ Police Computer Centre in 1982, the Wellington Trades Hall in 1984, and the hijacking of an Air New Zealand flight in 1987, are not well remembered in the collective consciousness of New Zealanders. 10 Post 9/11, New Zealand managed to avoid the rise in transnational and home-grown jihadi plots that emerged in Australia.…”

“…8 Whilst the sinking of the Rainbow Warrior sticks out, 9 activist violence, a foiled Ananda Marga plot in 1975, bombings at the NZ Police Computer Centre in 1982, the Wellington Trades Hall in 1984, and the hijacking of an Air New Zealand flight in 1987, are not well remembered in the collective consciousness of New Zealanders. 10 Post 9/11, New Zealand managed to avoid the rise in transnational and home-grown jihadi plots that emerged in Australia. 11 However, contemporary domestic cases of potential terrorism such as Operation Eight (in which a range of activists were involved in apparent training camps) and the 2014 threat by a lone actor to contaminate baby formula unless the use of 1080 ceased, have, according to Battersby, been effectively granted "invisibility in law" due to the inability to charge what were arguably terrorist acts under the Terrorism Suppression Act 2002.…”

“…11 However, contemporary domestic cases of potential terrorism such as Operation Eight (in which a range of activists were involved in apparent training camps) and the 2014 threat by a lone actor to contaminate baby formula unless the use of 1080 ceased, have, according to Battersby, been effectively granted "invisibility in law" due to the inability to charge what were arguably terrorist acts under the Terrorism Suppression Act 2002. 12 Through being prosecuted under existing criminal law, potential terrorist events have resonated less with the public. 13 The media deemed the Christchurch mosques attacks as the "end of New Zealand's innocence. "…”

“…12 Through being prosecuted under existing criminal law, potential terrorist events have resonated less with the public. 13 The media deemed the Christchurch mosques attacks as the "end of New Zealand's innocence. " 14 Battersby argues New Zealanders were simply caught off-guard due to a faded collective memory of a chequered terrorist past, 15 given that New Zealand has had a "lengthy history of autonomous actors, mostly unconnected to each other, thoroughly exploiting our complacency. "…”

Security sector practitioner perceptions of the terror threat environment before the Christchurch attacks

“…A small number of 'fixated' individuals who have made threats or undertook threatening actions against political leaders have been prosecuted and convicted of criminal offences (NZ Herald 2007;RNZ 2019 May 26). In recent times, most prosecutions have involved breaches of the Video, Film and Publications Classification Act 1993, where offenders have been caught with video or hard copy banned by the Chief Censor (Battersby 2019). This prompted Practitioner Z to observe that the Video, Film and Publications Classification Act has been New Zealand's only effective counter terrorism legislation since 9/11.…”