Answers over how this country's worst act of terrorism was allowed to happen are expected today, when the findings of the Royal Commission of Inquiry are released.
Tributes paid at Al Huda Mosque in Dunedin after the terror attacks on two mosques in Christchurch. (File photo). Photo: RNZ / Tim Brown
Minister responsible for New Zealand's spy agencies Andrew Little is promising that the government will take the findings seriously.
Reporters are currently reading through the 800-page report in lock-ups in both Parliament and Christchurch.
The details will be released at 2pm and the Prime Minister is expected to announce a Minister to oversee the implementation of the report's recommendations.
Andrew Little is staying quiet on whether he will be appointed to that role, saying he will make further comment once the details are public.
The report looks at what could and should have been done to prevent the 15 March 2019 terror attack, what could be done to prevent similar attacks in future, and the terrorist and his activities right up to the moment he opened fire on worshippers at the two mosques.
It was given to the bullet injured and the bereaved on Saturday, will be released publicly at 2pm today.
As well as the findings, there would almost certainly be a set of recommendations pointing to how such an event could be prevented from ever happening again.
Anjum Rahman Photo: SUPPLIED
A spokesperson for the Islamic Women's Council, Anjum Rahman, said she welcomes victims being given a copy of the report ahead of time, but they should also have been provided with legal help.
She told Morning Report that assistance was needed because the report deals with political and legal matters.
"I think there is a huge power imbalance so government departments and government itself have access to a huge amount of resources and the ability to access the best legal expertise, whereas these families and communities are not only dealing with the financial repercussions from the attacks but also the emotional trauma and the energy they can bring to this, so there is this huge power imbalance and therefore they should be resourced equally well to get the legal expertise they need and there has been plenty of time to have that put in place for them."
While those most directly affected by the mosque attacks would continue to be the main focus, there were wider issues to be considered, she said.
"But when we think about the wider context, another attack could happen in any other place and it could target another community and therefore there is also the importance of a national level response and the systems around national security are also at the national level so there needs to be a wider response."
The issues in the report don't just impact the Muslim community, they impact all of New Zealand and the recommendations will be for the benefit of the country, she said.
University of Waikato's professor of law, Alexander Gillespie, told Morning Report the main takeaway from the report to look for was accountability and ensuring there was change to prevent a similar incident from happening again.
"My guess is what the report will show is that there was a terror portfolio out there with all the things that could happen and right when extremism was a minority threat, but it was not an invisible threat," Prof Gillespie said.
"The issue then is when you give these agencies over $100 million a year and very strong powerful laws, whether they should have spotted it? Difficult yes and possible no. Then it will be about trying to make sure the next level of law and policy can stop that in the future, that will be a difficult task, he said.
"I think what we have to do here is honour those victims, make sure we remember what happened in the past and look at the present and future.
"It's not just about the compensation question, it's about making sure there's the mechanisms in place and that might mean creating a new [role for someone] who has some kind of oversight into racism, or hate crimes, or extremism in all its forms - throughout government even, not just within the agencies, that could cover security forces, police, and may be even the military."
Prof Gillespie said it was possible there would be resignations, with the precedent being the resignation of former minister of conservation Denis Marshall after the release of the commission of inquiry's report into the Cave Creek disaster.
"Here, we have to wait to see what the report says, but I think every senior portfolio holder will have to think carefully upon their position with regards to their accountability and degree of fault.
"Primarily, the first port of call is ministerial responsibility... After that, depending on the degree of whether they were intentional, whether they were reckless, whether they were negligent or incompetent, will work out what those people should do.
"The more difficult question is when it's none of those things. Whether it may have been that Tarrant may have just been near invisible. In that case, what people may expect may be different."
