EVEN THE HEADLINE is misleading: “How the SIS Missed the Threat of the Far Right”. Marc Dalder’s latest posting on the Newsroom site purports to offer evidence of the Service’s failure to adequately assess the danger posed to New Zealand society by Far Right and White Supremacist groups. In fact, from the documents Dalder relies upon, it is clear that the SIS assessed the threat potential of New Zealand’s right-wing extremists with considerable accuracy.
That the SIS failed to prevent the “lone wolf” attack perpetrated by Australian extremist Brenton Tarrant is undeniable. But, once again, the official documents cited by Dalder make it very clear that, without the assistance of the most extraordinary dumb luck, the detection and prevention of such attacks is next-to-impossible. Curiously enough, this is also precisely what the Royal Commission of Inquiry Into the Christchurch Mosque Attacks concluded.
The spy agency took two years to implement a major shift in how it targeted threats, but once it did, the rewards were almost immediate.
The Security Intelligence Service (NZSIS) got 10 leads on right-wing extremists in the lead-up to the Christchurch mosque attacks.
This came within a few months of the SIS shifting from an overriding focus on Islamists and threats it knew about, to looking much harder at ones it did not, notably white supremacists.
Summaries of its strategies - newly released to RNZ under the OIA by the SIS - alongside the Royal Commission of Inquiry reports, show how that vital shift was a long time coming, held back by what the commission called scarce counterterrorism resources - though an internal review, the Arotake report, maintains the agency got its priorities and rebuilding right.
The spy agency took two years to implement a major shift in how it targeted threats, but once it did, the rewards were almost immediate.
NZ Security Intelligence Service director Rebecca Kitteridge speaks after the release of the final report by the Royal Commission of Inquiry into the terrorist attack on Christchurch mosques.
Photo: RNZ / Sam Rillstone
The Security Intelligence Service (NZSIS) got 10 leads on right-wing extremists in the lead-up to the Christchurch mosque attacks.
This came within a few months of the SIS shifting from an overriding focus on Islamists and threats it knew about, to looking much harder at ones it did not, notably white supremacists.
NZSIS counterterror focus on white supremacists found new targets quickly stuff.co.nz - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from stuff.co.nz Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Data mining would help SIS counter-terrorism effort despite public reticence - report rnz.co.nz - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from rnz.co.nz Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.