Emails between the Office of Ethnic Communities and the Islamic Women's Council show the Office effectively ignored the Council's concerns about violence against Muslims for more than two years.
Days after the Christchurch mosque attacks Council member Anjum Rahman penned an opinion piece for RNZ describing her heartbreak at what had happened, but also her frustration that the government had been warned about violence against Muslims and had failed to take any meaningful action.
Correspondence obtained under the Official Information Act for the two years to March 15 show the Council wanted to implement a national strategy, had ideas for training teachers to be more culturally responsive to minority groups and explicitly warned most major government departments of their fear of the alt-right, stressing urgent action was necessary.
RNZ's Emma Hatton speaks with Susie Ferguson.
