Last Friday, a Muslim terrorist shouting “Allahu Akbar” ran through a west Auckland supermarket stabbing customers before being shot and killed by undercover Police.
Of the seven people injured, three were critical, but thankfully, are now recovering. The youngest victim was a 29-year-old woman, and the oldest a 77-year-old man.
Let’s look into this tragedy and ask whether anything could have prevented it.
The timeline shows that 22 year old Ahamed Aathill Mohamed Samsudeen, a Tamil Muslim, arrived in New Zealand from Sri Lanka on a student visa on 22 October 2011.
He sought refugee status, but in April 2012 Immigration New Zealand declined his application on the basis that it lacked credibility. He appealed, and in December 2013 the Immigration and Protection Tribunal recognised him as a refugee.
In April 2014 he was granted permanent residency, with police and security checks identifying no issues of concern.
But in 2016, following the rise of Islamic State, he began posting ISIS-inspired material on Facebook advocating violent extremism. As a result, he came to the attention of Police and the Security Intelligence Service.
In May 2017, he attempted to leave New Zealand for Malaysia, on his way to Syria to fight for Islamic State, but was arrested at Auckland Airport.
When police searched his apartment, they found a large hunting knife and a variety of terrorist propaganda. Charged with possession of an offensive weapon and distributing restricted publications – his first set of charges – he was remanded in custody.
In August 2017, Immigration New Zealand’s Refugee Status Unit began reviewing his refugee status, not only on the basis that he may be a security threat, but information found on his computer cast doubt on the validity of his original application. In June 2018, he was notified his refugee status was to be revoked.
At his trial later that month, he pleaded guilty to distributing restricted publications, but having already been in custody for 13 months – longer than any sentence for the charges he faced – he was released on bail.
Just days later, having breached his bail conditions by buying another large hunting knife and accessing terrorist information on the internet, he was again arrested – his second set of charges.
In September 2018, given the time he’d already spent in prison, Justice Wylie sentenced him on the first set of charges to a year of supervision – including a psychological assessment and the monitoring of online activity.
However, he was not released, but remained in custody – as a result of the second set of charges.
In February 2019, he was advised that Immigration New Zealand had finally cancelled his refugee status, and he was served with two deportation notices – one relating to his criminal offending and the other to the cancellation of his refugee status.
He lodged an appeal over the latter and could not be deported until it was heard.
In July 2020, an attempt to have him charged under the Terrorism Suppression Act for the second set of offences failed. Justice Downs ruled that planning a terrorist act was not an offence under the law, noting, “The absence of an offence of planning or preparing a terrorist act … could be an Achilles heel”. The judgment was sent to the Attorney-General, the Solicitor-General and the Law Commission.
In September 2020, he was charged with attacking two Corrections officers, but pleaded not guilty – his third set of charges.
In May 2021, he was found guilty by the jury in his High Court trial on the second set of charges, of possessing terrorism propaganda and failing to comply with a search. The Crown sought GPS monitoring, but this was refused.
In July 2021, having already spent three years in custody, he was sentenced to a year of supervision, again on the condition of a psychological assessment and the monitoring of online activity. He was granted bail by the District Court on the third set of charges.
Once released from prison, he was placed under 24/7 surveillance by Police and an Elite Special Tactical Group in an operation that involved some 30 officers working around the clock.
On August 26, he was advised his hearing with the Immigration and Protection Tribunal over the challenge to his refugee status that had been set down for mid-September had been adjourned due to Covid restrictions.
Eight days later, the attack at LynnMall Countdown took place and he was shot dead by the undercover officers who were monitoring his movements from just outside the supermarket. When they heard shouting and saw shoppers running, they sprang into action. A bystander’s video recorded the sound of 10 shots being fired in rapid succession.
So, what do we know of his background?
Stuff reports that the Immigration and Protection Tribunal that reviewed his application for refugee status in December 2013 after it had been declined, found the claims he would be harmed if he was returned to Sri Lanka “credible”.
They understood his family had been persecuted because of an “antipathy” between his father, a school principal and important civic figure, and a paramilitary leader in Sri Lanka who had been part of the Tamil Tigers – a guerrilla organisation that had fought a long-running civil war. While an assassination attempt on his father failed, his cousin was killed.
In 2004 his father was kidnapped and beaten, but eventually released.
His older siblings – two brothers and a sister – moved to the United Kingdom, Middle East, and North America, due to “deteriorating circumstances”.
In 2010, he was hit by a vehicle when riding his motorcycle to work, then viciously beaten.
A year later, he and his father were abducted by “several armed men”, who tortured and beat them unconscious.
Once recovered, he left Sri Lanka for New Zealand.
A psychologist who provided evidence for his refugee claim found his multiple mood disorders and post-traumatic stress would be difficult to fabricate, and a doctor confirmed the scarring on his body. Whilst the Immigration and Protection Tribunal acknowledged some aspects of his account were superficially unsatisfactory, they recognised him as a refugee who, in accordance with New Zealand’s obligations under the Refugee Convention, could not be deported.
Reports show that without the support of friends and family, he not only developed heightened anxiety about his parents’ safety, but he also lacked confidence and maturity.
As a result, by 2016 he had become an almost perfect candidate to be radicalised in his living room by the sophisticated social media campaigns run by the Islamic State. Those campaigns targeted disaffected young men in Western countries, particularly those who felt isolated, in order to lure them to the Middle East to fight, or carry out terror attacks at home.
In a heartfelt apology from his family over the terrible tragedy, his brother stated, “Unfortunately, Aathil was suffering from some mental health problems in his life. He suffered a lot during his political torture at home. We were grateful he found the country where he wanted to live.
“We saw his mental health got worse and worse during the last 10 years or so. He spent a lot of his time in prison and was always struggling with some court cases. When we heard that he was in prison in New Zealand, we thought it would do him some good but didn’t realise he would spend so much time there. He also had many problems in prison. He always wanted help and support. He told us that all the time. The prisons and the situation was hard on him and he did not have any support. He told us he was assaulted there.”
So, the question now becomes, could anything have been done to prevent this tragedy?
According to sentencing notes from 2018, forensic psychiatrist Dr Jeremy Skipworth informed the Court that “any form of home detention would tend to further exacerbate mental health concerns, and that successful community reintegration is likely to be assisted by cornerstones, such as stable housing, personal support, appropriate employment and medical care”.
Dr Clarke Jones, an Australian National University criminologist and expert in de-radicalising Islamic extremists, who is this week’s NZCPR Guest Commentator, concurred, informing the High Court that he didn’t appear to fit the profile of someone who had been irreversibly radicalised:
“When Samsudeen was examined in 2018 to determine his suitability for rehabilitation upon release, he did not fit the usual characteristics of a radicalised offender. At the time, he had no political agenda against the New Zealand government or any other western countries. Although he was vocal about inequality, discrimination and other grievances, he was not motivated to use violence, nor did he want to hurt others.
“Instead of radicalisation, Samsudeen showed clear signs of depression and post-traumatic stress. He felt disconnected, had difficulty trusting people, was unable to rest and sleep and was constantly on edge. His long-term absence from family and community intensified his symptoms of PTSD.
“I acknowledge that police surveillance and monitoring are key components in community safety and national security. But they do not result in rehabilitation. In fact, they could arguably encourage reoffending. Our alternative approach was to put Samsudeen through a support and reintegration program led by representatives from the Auckland Muslim community. Unfortunately, our efforts were ignored.”
The sentence imposed by Justice Wylie involved supervision – with special conditions including a psychological assessment and rehabilitation with a service called ‘Just Community’.
The Prime Minister claimed, “Agencies used every tool available to protect innocent people from this individual. Every legal avenue was tried”.
But neither mental health support, Court-ordered psychological assessments, nor rehabilitation appear to have taken place.
When asked if these efforts to prosecute, deport and surveil him since 2017 had exacerbated his extremism, Jacinda Ardern said: “Nothing ever suggested that.”
But as Dr Jones said, “For him to be just placed on monitoring and surveillance… I am sure that is not the right answer. Was he safe to be in the community? Obviously he was not but if they had addressed his mental health needs then we might not have been in this situation now. He had such a tragic life. It is just a shame that there wasn’t someone that could have stepped in”.
Without addressing the potential failings of the state that may have contributed to the tragedy, the Prime Minister has turned the focus onto the failings of the law.
The concerns raised by Justice Downs last year, that planning a terrorist act is not a crime in New Zealand, were echoed by the Royal Commission of Inquiry into the Christchurch terror attacks, and as a result, a new Counter-Terrorism Legislation Bill – that would make it a criminal offence to plan a terrorist attack – is presently before the Justice Select Committee.
The Government says the legislation will enhance public safety, but not everyone is convinced.
Otago University Law Professor Andrew Geddes believes existing laws are sufficient to detain would-be terrorists, and that extending the criminal law’s reach to people thinking about doing something is a step too far: “We don’t usually punish people for what they are planning to do, rather for what they actually do.”
Dr Paul Buchanan, an intelligence analyst, also believes the existing criminal laws are “enough to deal with terrorism-related crimes”.
In his damning submission on the bill, Wellington barrister and constitutional law expert Graeme Edgeler echoes these serious concerns and also questions the need to change the definition of a “terrorist act”, which has been intentionally widened seemingly to ensure significantly more New Zealanders will be targeted and charged as terrorists.
The Government has also announced it is considering changing immigration law – in conflict with UN Conventions – to make it possible to deport any refugee that poses a threat to society.
This, along with criminalising people for crimes they haven’t committed, represent significant constitutional changes that will undermine the freedom and rights of New Zealanders. Such changes need to be considered carefully, not rushed through Parliament so the Prime Minister can look decisive on the world stage – as she seeks to put this sorry affair behind her.
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THIS WEEK’S POLL ASKS:
*Do you agree with the Prime Minister that everything was done to keep the public safe?
*Poll comments are posted below.
*All NZCPR poll results can be seen in the Archive.
THIS WEEK’S POLL COMMENTS
| Nero fiddling while Rome burns, creating division, suffering of all kinds. we lived in an era of relative peace and comfort, but now a proportion of NZ are settling into a mood of pessimism about the long-term future and I hope fearful that the current government is out of touch with the economic reality. Jacinda full of her own self importance has juggled the rubiks cube, i hope the majority of modest Kiwis can now stand up and say No instead of Yes. | Stuart |
| magicians often use misdirection to defy logic, done for our entertainment. But when politicians act to defy logic it is not for our entertainment, the misdirection is always for a undesirable agenda. Like a bad magician failing to impress politicians often blatantly offend by such a poor performance, insulting the audience assuming ignorance providing the weakest proformance. | Beau |
| Just adding to the continuing lies we have to sort through | Brianb |
| We are being pushed down a very dangerous path. Think Hong Kong And Teinamen Square. That is where we are headed under this lot. That’s a no from me | Raewyn |
| Since the Christchurch shooting she has not delivered her promised reforms.Hypocritical and typical. | Laurie |
| No use closing the door after the horse has bolted! | Peter |
| The Prime Minister has spent too much time on other issues of which she was not given a mandate by the people of NZ. I refer in particular to Maori takeovers. Covid is being used for political gain. | Cheryl |
| Absolutely no confidence in this Govt. This Govt now have two incidents of harm to New Zealander’s on her watch. This Govt is more interested in dividing us by race and handing over council owned water infrastructure to race based ownership. Deport those who wish to harm us or get them treatment. It could have been any one of us. Shame on you Jacinda | Sam |
| The hospitals should have had more preparedness in the event of a major outbreak and still needs to be done for when the country opens up again so there is confidence they can cope | Bronia |
| Why were we spending thousands of tax payers dollars on 24/7 surveillance. And for how long was this going to be carried out for? He should have been deported. | Janine |
| She has spun out the Covid process as a vote grab and pushing her Marxist agenda of divide and rule. She should have implemented vaccination much sooner, developed a purpose built quarantine facility and had much better testing of frontline staff. She has controlled us through fear of Covid. | Steve |
| The missing criteria ere is common sense. We try to legislate everything accurately with no scope for common sense. We see it so often, like the Czech guy whose name i cannot remember. more detailed the legislation the more scope for more lawyers to get involved. I think what is lacking here is what sort of country do we want NZ to be. We have magnificant rights but not necessarily any respect or individual responsibilities for our behaviours | Mike |
| She was lackadaisical about purchasing and distributing a decent vaccine whilst the country was in remission. For this lack of vision we are now paying an extremely heavy price, not only now but well into future generations | tony |
| Everything was done to suit her puppet masters agenda. Pawns don’t have a say and can be moved/sacrificed at will. | Bruce C |
| It is apparent that scarcely ANYTHING was done to keep the public safe. If the correct things had been done this would not have happened. There are millions of people around the world being mistreated, unlawfully, by their governments, BY criminals or religious zealots. Are we to accord them all refugee status in our shores? No, of course not. Why then was this person a special case? Who voted for us to be the world’s conscience? | TOBY |
| as of august 28the the vaccine death report total was 40… not 1 as told to by the clowns who deliver the daily covid updates. that’s more than have died from the thing called covid-19. it is way worse than you think. They are deep into gutting NZ. That is the result of the designed reaction to covid. As I saw on a poster recently… When all said and done… we can just blame everything on covid. Thats what’s happening… for sure. We need to wake up… get off line and going out the pitchforks. | alan |
| Too slow with vaccine acquisition- riding high on no COVID. Ardennes is arrogant, ,self interested and falsely empathetic. Stop her grandstanding every day at 1pm, it is nothing more than PR to get her re-elected. | Laura |
| If this male came here on a student visa, what was he a student of and what job did he have, I suppose none? If he had been deported in the first instance, he would probably still be alive and maybe thriving if his main anxiety was the welfare of his parents. I feel these single, males of radical Muslim religions are unsuitable candidates for settlement in our society and seem to be ideal recruits for radicalisation sitting alone with their computers. He should have gone to a religiously similar country in his area. Now he has caused mental health problems for 7 New Zealanders and all the globalist Ardern cares about, are the numbers for the UN . | Monica |
| Obviously not! | Rosemary |
| A great deal of posturing and political waffle but a complete lack of positive action. Too much kindness in the wrong area! | Naville |
| The satanic witch and her crime gang, the LIE BOR party, have always been soft on crime, now they have us all locked up in covid prison, at home! | David |
| surely a criminal conviction is grounds for deportation. | George |
| I believe that vaccinations should have been available months earlier.Adern wants to keep everyone in a state of fear and is ruining NZ and killing democracy. | Irene |
| One word to describe this Government in everything they attempt. INCOMPETENT. | Murray |
| The law could have been changed sooner to allow for intent to commit terrorism. It would not have been complicated to amend existing law. | Julie |
| Not at all. Failures occurred at every opportunity to stop this debacle. The overwhelming failure was not protecting the public. | Tony |
| It is ridiculous to claim that “everything” that could be done was done. If the prime minister believes this then she is an idiot. When even a suspected violent criminal is TWICE found to have obtained a big hunting knife only a fool would accept there was no danger in that man. To have armed police WAITING OUTSIDE while this man who had TWICE obtained a big hunting knife was allowed to wander freely among the crowded customers in a supermarket is rather inadequate supervision. | Rob |
| He should have been deported, or the law changed to enable it to happen | David |
| A mentally ill man who was never given the help he needed. The government was negligent. | Michael |
| another jacinda lie | john |
| If New Zealand had done it’s due diligence this man should never have been allowed to enter New Zealand. | Robert |
| He should have been deported ages ago | leo |
| He should’ve been put under compulsory mental health act to undergo treatment as he had thoughts of harming others. Actions in the past had clearly shown. Especially as he had been diagnosed with severe PTSD. The Islamic pastor, I my view could’ve done more too as he knew early on with the issues he had and the extreme views he had. | Mary-Ann |
| Yeah right! | Bryan |
| major failure and lacked any urgency to sort matter | richard |
| The fish & chippie is in charge. Would could go wrong? | Terry |
| The rules should have been changed months ago. It was a soft option so as not to upset a certain group of people. This man was known to be dangerous for years. | Brian |
| with all the pc do gooders and our toothy dictator lieing like a flat fish it seems that every one has forgotten that we just imported a loony woman and her two little bas**rds then what about the woman who was on a flight to Blenheim and drew a knife wanting to fly back to somalia but I gather she’s still in NZ, if these people want to go and join these bent orginastions let them go and hopefully a drone gets them. so no wonder this country will be targeted by these nutters. I do hope that the gentleman that dispatched the attacker gets a medal but suspect he will be pulled over the coals by the do gooders saying why didn’t you speak to him nicely and talk over a cup of coffee so we could help him etc, just a reminder, Mr Rushdie is still on the hit list by these loonies and they will never ever change. Sweden is now having big problems because of a huge influx of these people so it wont be long before we have a lot more trouble of the same thing. | Richard |
| They were too slow in deporting him when it was abundantly clear that he had embraced ISIS ideology. The rights on one individual should never be paramount above the rights of the public at large. | Kerry |
| Does that woman ever stop talking rubbish and expect people to accept it. One only has to look at her track record. She bleats that the poor government has been struggling for about four years to have the terrorist deported but couldn’t find the necessary legal wording to achieve this ,yet she was able halt all mining and oil exploration ,make new legislation for creating new Maori wards for councils,take guns off legal liscence holders and to top it off give away 2.75 million of tax payers money to the mongrel mob. She never seemed to have much trouble achieving these things and all without mandate from the taxpayers. If people are prepared to tolerate this contempt she is dishing out ,then they deserve everything they get. Never mind waiting for the next election,she must be got rid of now. | Ralph |
| She is bloody useless. | ERIC |
| I believe her comments are becoming less about truth and more about political convenience by the day! The hole can only grow deeper! | Barry |
| It did not take the Prime Minister long to change the gun laws. She has the numbers she could have strength and changes these acts/laws if she wanted too, which would have given the option to allow for the removal of these known threats. Things will only get worst with more refugees coming in with similar if not the same issues going forward. | Malcolm |
| Typical adern | Allan |
| We need to have strict overseeing of those with terroristic idealogy especially when they are radicalised and in the public domain. | Brian |
| Refugee conventions and agreements with the UN do not supersede common sense. Too many do gooders, soft judges and soft lawyers had their fingers in the trough. The financial cost to the taxpayers is beyond reason. He should have been deported immediately at the first sign of trouble, just as they do in most other countries. He was a special risk and should have had an especially speedy escort to the airport. The labor Party bears full responsibility for this indecisiveness. | Rex |
| Once again, our “Crime Sinister” has failed at her duties as our so called Leader, lying with more & more “Sustained Propaganda” | Bruza |
| This bunch of numpty amateurs couldn’t organise a party in a brewery. I don’t believe anything they say or do. She has converted NZ into a communist state. | bill |
| No she and the clowns fell asleep at the wheel | Ray |
| The current Prime Minister is a well practiced Spin Doctor attempting to keep the brown stuff from her face by throwing it in another direction. | Kerry |
| He should have been deported after the first, then after the second, then after the third, the fourth, back to his homeland.It is only by God’s grace not one of his victims died that night. | CMM |
| Clearly no. Deploying 30 people to watch 1 person is not good value when the outcome was a failure. The proposed new anti-terrorist legislation is a knee jerk reaction similar to the rushed gun restriction laws. New Zealand deserves better. | Peter |
| We have a useless leader and a more useless Executive and given time we will see more of these problems in the future. | John |
| Police never opposed bail which could have kept him locked up and the public safe. | ross |
| DON’T LET THESE PEOPLE INTO THE COUNTRY. | COLIN |
| It appears this guy needed help, not constant harassment by our authorities. Makes a laughing stock of our PMs Be Kind mantra….. | Sharen |
| Usual Adern incompetence followed by usual lying. | Richard |
| NO She defends Muslims !! He Clearly was a terrorist! If this had been a Christian attacking Muslims she would have had a more hard core approach !!! To try and elicit sympate on the grounds of mental instability …. how low can you sink !! He should have been Jailed / Deported. | sheryl |
| When directed to actually DO something, the State failed. Where were the efforts directed at rehabilitation? Following him around until he did something while knowing full well the extent of the threat he posed to society hardly constitutes preventative measures. | Gary |
| Again the ideology has trumped the facts…..And the ego, We KNOW best ….the experts don’t. | Lionel |
| inept govt.as usual | colin |
| Too much pC stuff evident here | Bryan |
| When 30 men are required to monitor a suspected terrorist. 24/7 – this man should have been deported. its overdue that we leave the UN and make our own decisions | AACC |
| This sorry affair was only possible by covert aiding and abetting of : the PM ,the Immigration Department, Judges, Police. It looks more and more like a conspiracy to sow more confusion ,division and uncertainty amidst all this Covid mess in order to prepare the ground for the Great Reset. This Government ha become a willing tool of UN agendas and are certainly not standing for our national interests any more. We can be sure of one thing: this will not be the last Muslim terror attack in NZ. | Michael |
| There was plenty of time to change the law | Gay |
| By the sheer fact that this PoS was being monitored and followed 24×7 the government knew he was a danger to the populous, they also knew he lied when he applied for asylum, so at the very least he should have been in preventative detention or should have already been deported from the country, for the Government to argue they couldn’t do this is a farce given they are the government and can change the law ! | John |
| Is everything being dome to enhance the prime minister’s reputation? As usual, Yes! | peter |
| Refugee status is a privilege and the safety of New Zealanders must come first. Why would this country spend thousands and thousands of dollars on one individual. Deportation needs to be quick. | steve |
| why didn’t they let him go to syria? | michael |
| The Court system is too slow . | Tony |
| No, because: 1. The government through whatever advice they obtained did not accept all of it and believed that no person is bad at heart and they think that we are all born good. 2. The government did not persist in the belief that this person was part of an ISIS inspired group that would in the end act on the beliefs of ISIS or at least as a terrorist individual being inspired by ISIS doctrine and methods would go to the extent that this individual has gone. 3. The government showed this by not changing the law on terrorism to make it highly unlikely that this person would be able to do what they did. | Ray |
| surveilance was the wrong thing to have done – this encouraged his reoffending – the guy needed mental health help | Lorraine |
| From info you have provided it appears nothing was done to aid in his rehabilitation Considering his fractured life very little sympathy has been expressed by government | Tony |
| No – we just wasted Police resources and taxpayers hard-earned money to no worthwhile effect. This unhappy state of affairs will continue for as long as we allow the United Nations to foist fanatical, murderous, proponents of an invasive, barbaric, medieval, “religion” upon our Nation. In the absence of radical policy changes and hard decisions being taken, we can expect more of these tragic events to take place, in the future, despite the best efforts of Police and other agencies involved. | Scott |
| Absolute shemozzle! | Matt |
| She has failed the New Zealand public and I would go so far as to say deceived them | Kevin |
| Fudge it! | Carol |
| Should never had been allowed out in community and should have deported him alot earlier. | Elizabeth |
| This is the worst Prime Minister in the history of New Zealand. A PM that is prepared to lie to the public is a disgrace. | Guy |
| He should have been deported in 2018 if not sooner too much PC non sense! | Gregor |
| How many warnings do we need. For our PM to suggest that every thing was done to keep us safe is a public display of incredible ignorance. Now watch Labour change the Laws to be used to control New Zealanders who challenge our descent away from democracy. Spare a thought for all the New Zealanders who have fought and lost their lives to keep New Zealand free of tyranny | Bryan |
| The PM was very quick to move the focus off her and shift the blame elsewhere. Consistent with the behaviour we have come to expect from her. | Heather |
| I believe that he had committed too many offences to allow leniency. Maybe he should have been committed so that psychiatric assessment could be made. He should not have been allowed to refuse intervention. | Laura |
| the police also could have been more proactive | Paula |
| This man should have been deported back to his homeland | Terrena |
| Clearly the PM is up to it again. There is never a truth that comes from her mouth. The public was in clear danger and a half cocked weapon was loose in public. | Neil |
| Should have been deported years ago-Aussie would have given him no 2nd chances-we are too soft | Colleen |
| Get real !!! once refugee status removed, , on first plane home – no questions | sheryl |
| he should have been deported earlier as a threat to New Zealanders | linda |
| Taxcinder did not do things right. | William |
| Caught with drugs – and you are deemed guilty of dealing? | John |
| The PM labels it a terror attack. It was not a terror attack, but State Sponsored Terrorism. It was State sponsored because this individual was known to the authorities, and they did nothing to prevent it. The PM hides behind insufficient laws to lock these dangerous people up. Who passes new laws? Why was this person not deported? Probably something to do with their human rights! Try telling that to victims and their families. This was inherited from the previous Government but nonetheless this is the second terrorist attack on Jacinda’s watch. The country’s enemies can see her for what she is, weak on crime and weak on terrorism. For all the do-gooders who demand unfettered entrance without full checks, this, I am afraid is the result. | ian |
| Everything was not done to prevent the tragedy as Ardern hopes we will believe. If the Muslim community had stepped up to assist this young deeply troubled man, there was a chance he would have had the necessary support and and help he so badly needed .A glaring omission from the Muslims. Where is their caring and so called loving religion ?! They who have had so much love, care and support in NZ from Christians and other faiths so that they enjoy a better quality of life than where they came from. Muslims must be ashamed that when asked for their help none was given if what we read is true. Having our Police forces constantly keeping this man under watch was a huge expense and now we know an unhappy outcome for the victims and the young mans family. Changing the law to give it more teeth is a joke when the current laws are ok . they just need to be enacted and wise heads used to get better results. NOT another KNEE JERK REACTION ! | Bev |
| Just look at the amount of time that was spent looking after this person after they left jail and the cost to the tax payer!! | Garth |
| It’s a joke Change our laws | Lynne |
| He should have been deported as soon as he was identified as a threat | Jeanette |
| I worked for Probation Service and Supervision was NOT the right sentence for him. It should have been replaced with GPS monitoring and he will not get Psychological counselling on Supervision because their is a huge backlog and not enough Psyc staff. | Wayne |
| The PC or woke world view, that the PM would measure life by, stops short of personal responsibility, so that being kind without consequence’s is false. | Maurice |
| Little was done to get rid of a nutter from a foreign country and the cost to the taxpayers enormous | Sidwell |
| The lies do not keep anyone ‘safe’. | Bryan |
| It is really hard to believe that our Prime Minister would even make a statement like that when even the most radicalised Labour party member would not think like that, surely???? | Kevin |
| BS…as usual | rod |
| Is this a trick question? I nearly fell off my chair laughing. Believing the current Prime Minister? | Folkert |
| However whilst I agree that merely planning a terrorist act may not itself constitute terrorism it should still be classed as illegal under a lesser category of offence | Peter |
| surely the law can be changed in these circumstances | anthony |
| All too slack, he should’ve been deported. | Pam |
| the govt certainly has dropped the ball in this case -our terror related laws are totally inadequate time to get tough on immigrants/refugees that do not want to assimilate in to our way of life and if they don’t like how we do things then they should go back to where they come from | Les W |
| Should have been deported along with Ardern and ALL the Greens | Peter |
| So-called refugees or immigrants should be deported at first offence. Finish! All this playing round in court, hearing appeals and granting them. Is there no discernment lerft in those in high places who make the decisions. They won’t have learned a thing from this crime, either. | Alison |
| Get rid of all these foreign thugs under surveillance.. | Clive |
| Certainly not | Mike |
| This person should have been deported a long time ago. | Gayle |
| After reading the article by Dr. Clark Jones, it seems that there were definitely measures that could have been made but weren’t that probably contributed to this tragedy. Shame on the authorities and shame on Jacinda for her vacant platitudes. | Sheila |
| Once radicalised there is little hope for permanent rehabilitation. The only laws that need to be strengthened are for the deportation of those individuals that the authorities feel the need for constant surveillance at the taxpayers expense. | Lee |
| It is totally unbelievable that. Nothing could’ve been done ..get creative | Carl |
| Regardless of his background he should have been deported when his threats became apparent. We are such a soft country, forget the U.N | Tom |
| No she is too interested in speaking fairy dust and chasing things that will give her ‘World Stage’ recognition and deportation is not what the soft in the head world wants to hear about. | John |
| Obviously not! | Charles |
| Muslims are treated differently in Japan and China, why is that? | Steve |
| This Labour Government DON’T know what they are doing. They seem hell bent on destroying New Zealand Fabric of Society. | Carl |
| Supermarket shopping should be a safe excursion… | Kenn |
| His mental health was an issue | June |
| decisions made on the hoof. No regard for small business owners at all. | Noeline |
| He needed mental health treatment in a secure place. Instead, he got 24 hour police surveillance. No help at all. | Douglas |
| How could anyone suggest that all had been done when 7 people are nearly killed. Let us get the facts correct | john |
| This is just another example of systematic failure of our woke Justice and policing systems in NZ. I would now expect Jacinda Ardern to buy back all knives from law abiding New Zealanders | Greg |
| Should have deported asap no pissing around | Neil |
| The attack showed that not enough had been done but what is enough | John IAN |
| Another (deliberate?) failure | Peter |
| He should have been have been deported after his first arrest .But first off he should never have been given the right to live in N Z and when you look at all the times he has been charged surely he should have been deported .The law does not need to be updated but the justice system and court judges need to get serious when passing down .sentience .The legal system needs a overhaul and judges need to get into the real World . | ken |
| AS USUAL she blames everyone else & will rush in changes to look good overseas.She doesn’t consider NZ people just as long as she looks good overseas thats all she considers. | Cindy |
| But something is missing | David |
| it would appear that lack of follow up and support may have created a problem | john |
| It appears that the recommended support was never provided. | Ian |
| How would we know anything? This government is secretive, tells lies, suppresses all media, never answers a question, hides everything from taxpayers who pay HER wages. I don’t believe a word they say!! | Gillian |
| I agree with a change of legislation to be able to deport any “REFUGEE” who gives concern about security | Geoffrey |
| Another instance of inept governing by untalented individuals. | Jon |
| The perpetrator of the radical crime should have been deported | c.Hawley |
| Typical failure yet again by a Labour government which only knows how to talk the talk but never manages to achieve anything except destruction of our way of life. Once again Ardern tries to put the blame anywhere except on her own government. | Roy |
| If it looks like a duck, quacks like a duck, and walks like a duck, it most probably is a duck and characteristic behaviour can be expected. This man did not fit into our society and should have been removed. Surely it is a privilege to be accepted into a new society and one should do everything to demonstrate good intentions. This man clearly did not fit and our authorities were simply going through the motions. It is a serious business as we have seen , yet again, Such a result could have been expected. | Harvey |
| Would it not have been better to have let him fly out of the country and be killed fighting for issi instead of playing silly little games keeping him in prison and costing the tax payer a small fortune, how many more mental ill refugees are in the country that the police are keeping an eye on, funny how this government can close our country down in a blink of an eye but are unable to remove a nutter, smells fishy to me. | Sven |
| The public’s safety always comes 2nd in this country. | Ann |
| His refuge status should have been cancelled and he deported immediately. Anyway, who is running this country, us or the United Nations? | Dennis |
| Pretty weak reasoning from this government when they are able to rush other legislation through parliament to suit themselves. Very weak governing and selfish. Have they let pride come into this ? | Owen |
| No, more could have been done, especially regarding his mental health state. We need more money spent on mental health, the whole of the health service. Not enough is being done when nurses, drs and health specialists are pushed to the limits | Kerin |
| There were two unexplored options. One was that the Immigration Minister under the existing UN Refugee Convention had the right to remove refugee status and thus deport said refugee if they were deemed to pose a threat to the state or citizens of the state where the refugee resided. Now that would have been for the most part Lees-Galloway and we all know that he was a waste of space in that role. The other solution was for the Minister of Security to deem the terrorist a threat to society and could have taken deportation action on that basis. The Minister for Security is no other than Ardern herself (who also made it easier for Tarrant to get his weapons) and so she is very keen to avoid having fingers pointed at her, hence her misdirection at blaming inadequacy of the law. | Brenton |
| Unfortunately this “progressive” government are themselves nasty radicals and scant attention is being paid to things that actually matter. | Tony |
| This whole case looks like a huge clusterf**k. A waste of police resources that could have been put to better use elsewhere. As a nation we can’t afford to have 30 police officers keeping an eye on one man who should have been excluded from society for the protection of others. Also, ten shots reported? Really? How does it take ten shots to bring down one man? How many missed? Where did those bullets go? I’ll be very surprised if the autopsy report showing how many of those bullets hit the target is ever made public. It might show the police in a bad light. I’m not against arming police. They need protection. But they also need thorough training in the use of their weapons. I don’t believe that enough training is given at present. We, the public, should be able to rely on the police to protect us from criminals but can we rely on them? How good a shot is the average police officer? I suspect not good enough. Sure training is expensive. So is an innocent life lost due to police incompetence. Our police have a difficult job to do, a job many of us could not do. We must give them the training they need to do that job safely. | Igor |
| He should have been sent back when he first offended | Dave |
| 3 strikes = gone. This man blew all his chances. He should have been deported or at the very least held in prison for the greater good of society. Releasing him on bail was never an appropriate course of action. | Kerry |
| Inadequate law kept this person in a position to harm the public | Robbie |
| Our bums on seats “Education Visa” needs much closer scrutiny. I have long believed is was/is an immigration scheme in disguise. | Murray |
| woeful performance | Graham |
| Proof is the Tova O’Brien TV 3 interview pulled from broadcast..people need to hear that. ARDERN ISTHE MOST CORUPT,INCOPETENT PM OF ALL TIME AND A DISPICABLE LIAR AS WELL. | Don |
| Courts requirements to rehabilitate were not carried through. This needs to be addressed and remedied. | Stan |
| As soon as his refugee status was removed he should have been deported back to where he came from | Stuart |
| A sad reflection on the NZ justice system – it initially failed Mr Samsudeen and ended up badly injuring 7 others. The last thing we need is knee-jerk legislation. | Coker |
| Ardern’s claim that everything was done to keep the public safe is an outright lie. I mean, just think about that statement .. everything ..? You don’t have to look very far .. to discover that simply IS NOT TRUE. This is just another example of the spin that Teflon Ardern and her PR Team strive to put on things. Take no responsibility, admit no wrong. This is despite the fact Teflon was directly involved in matters behind the lead up to both the Christchurch Mosque Shootings (overseeing changes that enabled purchase transactions for assault rifles to be completed online), and the New Lynn Terrorist Attack (having been personally briefed on matters involving the specific individual involved). And still, knowing it not to be the case, Teflon comes out with everything was done to keep the public safe. The reason why Teflon uses these sorts of deception techniques is .. they work. Most New Zealander’s, it seems, are fairly incapable of any kind of critical thinking. They just accept what they’re told .. taking it in hook, line and sinker. | Stewart |
| Another example of this Socialist Governments ongoing failures. Ardern & her bunch of cohorts need to go and soon, before they destroy this country. | David |
| Absolutely not!! They sat on their hands when they could have changed the law and kept this lowlife behind bars. | Bradley |
| Only providing half the story – typical. | john |
| Our legal system needs some tweaking. He should have been fast tracked and deported early on. | John |
| NZ has the slowest vaccination rate of any of the OECD countries. Couple that with lack of transparency and this government has been a dismal failure. | Tony |
| Should have been deported as soon as it was found he gave false information April 2012. | Terry |
| NZ is not the protector of the world. We simply cannot accept refugees from other places that cannot run themselves. The population need to be stabilised, not increased. | Charles |
| With an outright majority she had the ability to whatever she wished. | Adrian |
| could have used the mental health act. | Susan |
| This remark from Ardern is a cop out, if this was correct, then how can the govt rush a law through in two weeks as she says now. When she had 4 years to do the same thing. Or is it another political grandstanding moment as per normal? | Peter |
| we should not help terrorists flee from justice in their own country. | Angelica |
| shocking. They just allowed this to happen in order to support their hate speech bill | Anna-Maria |
| I know of at least seven people, eight if you include the deceased, who will agree with me. The rushed legislation to create Maori wards in local body politics is but one example of time wasted when larger problems manifested. Ditto with the Hate Speech rubbish. | Philip |
| He should have been deported. | Malcolm&Morea |
| I think several Governments over the years have let us all down | Laurel |
| A very troubled man | Bev |
| By leaving open the airports and bringing in people from virus ridden Countries I believe it has exacerbated the virus catching. Lockdown has been for the communities and those privileged ones travelling have not helped. In my view Prime Minister has failed NZ | Zelda |
| The weak kneed Police Commissioner is hopeless but was appointed by our PM because she knew him. | Carol |
| Our Prime Minister is not only bankrupting our country but pandering to the Maori caucus who are taking control. | Carol |
| A democratic government’s primary responsibility is to keep its citizens safe. This fiasco is a clear illustration of failure in this role, compounded by the PM’s deflection of responsibility onto government departments, who had the impossible task of operating under shoddy laws. | Bernard |
| Why oh why did they arrest him at Auckland airport when he was going overseas to join Isis, the best thing to do to keep NZ safe was just to let him go, then renounce is citizenship, if he had it, and then later, if he tried to return, not let him back in to the country. | Stuart |
| This is the most obstructive and manipulative Government using compliant media I have ever seen going back to the Government of Peter Fraser., They are not fit for purpose! | Dave |
| He should have been sent back from where he came from as he was not accepting NZ law. | Neil |
| Should never have been given refugee status.Also one would wonder why the authorities pulled him off the aircraft when he was Syria bound they are barking mad. | Allister |
| Isn’t it obvious? | patricia |
| The ratbag should gave been sent home years ago. How many hundreds of other student overstayers in thus country are going to prove calamitous. We dont need them – we are too soft touch. Lock down our borders – no more immigrants. | Mike |
| I felt as soon as I heard he had been in jail for three years that that experience would have really screwed up his mind. Unfair imprisonment. Justice could have done better. Not that I like the guy. | Mark |
| Soft, naive, stupid NZ law. | Geoff |
| Law changes too tardy | Bryan |
| certainly do NOT agree with the prime minister. The man was clearly mentally disturbed and dangerous. He was not this country’s responsibility and should have been deported under armed guard. Releasing him, with armed police “minders” needlessly endangered innocent New Zealand citizens. The courts were stupidly – childishly even – far too lenient in obliging him with pointless hearings and appeals. This was a man who had been found with a “large hunting knife” yet he was let out and seriously injured a lot of people before being brought down with a fusilade (about twelve rounds) from police. Bully for you, chaps, even if you were a bit late. | Rob |
| Again another example of procrastination. | Roger |
| She is a lying communist scum and it’s all a SCAMDEMIC to divide and rule with a vaccine that is not a vaccine designed to reduce the sheeple | Greg |
| The Prime Minister and her Cabinet have blood on their hands. They had nearly two years to introduce a Bill making preparing/planning a Terrorist Act a Crime. FAIL. Six or Seven New Zealanders suffered minor to serious knife slashes because of Government incompetence | Kevin |
| proved himself unstable deportation required to be completed. preventing this incident. | mike |
| Well just look at the record my case rests | Peter |
| Of course not, if you do,you believe in fairies. Don’t believe everything she says,contrary to popular belief she cannot walk on water. | Peter |
| Obviously not. Why wasn’t he given the help and treatment that was recommended for his rehabilitation. Who was to follow up on this to ensure it was working etc. The system seems to have let him and the victims down. | Peter |
| This is yet another example of inadequacy displayed by this government. We have an “event” and then receive the cover up stories, only to discover they (the government and our PM) have not all that would be reasonable and expected of them. A disgrace. | chris |
| Having read Dr Jones’ account of what was done and was not aboe to be done for Samsudeem, I believe that more could have been done for him to help him mentally and psychologically. I feel sad for him that he was let down, and was not given the psychological and mental help that could have helped him, and so kept the public safe. The PM has known of him for several years now. Again, she’s said lots of “nice” words to distance herself from what was not done for this man and for the public. “The buck stops – where?” | Laurence |
| If she had spent less time promoting the Jacinda Adern Good News Show at 1pm each day she could have been a lot more pro-active on this issue. | Bruce |
| Why does this look like a re-run of March ’19 ? Again we have the State agencies get it wrong (The multiple failures of the Police leading up to 3/’19 – the apparent failures of applying the Court orders leading up to 9/’21) followed by the same government introducing harsher laws to somehow cover up the failures that led up to the eventual offending. As we are (it seems) to shortly have our thoughts policed along with any utterance we may make being assessed against a vague ‘hate speech’ standard. George Orwell’s ‘1984’ was a dystopian view of the world – or has it become a handbook for a government not too far from here ? | Ted |
| She never locked down the country , people were still coming in | Colin |
| I do not agree with anything the Marxist Prime Minister says or does. She cannot be trusted to do anything right.. | Scott |
| He should have been given access to the recommended help. | Jim |
| The Government’s first priority ought to be to keep the population of NZ safe. | michael |
| Like another long, long list of failures | Jack |
| another propaganda lie by Jacinda | chris |
| Of course not everything was done,good ole Jacinta placing blame on everyone else .Rather than being proactive she and her Labour ilk were drumming up ways to rob New Zealanders of assets that fuels the maori greed machine. | Ray |
| The Facts state otherwise. Once again, we’ve been lied to, big time. Surprise surprise !! | geoff |
| Accepting residency as a refugee should imply the responsibility to obey New Zealand law, and to be at the very least no threat to NZ residents. | david |
| Ardern is more concerned about her international image . An executive order to deport this criminal could have been made immediately he was found to have entered NZ fraudulently. | Max |
| Typical pass the ball stuff from an inadequate irresponsible government | Alan |
| the concern now is that there are over 200 people in this country who fall under terrorism banner. Something needs to be done and rather sooner than later. | Lawrie |
| typical left winger -long on syncophantic rhetoric but short on any action legal wise which her and her politburo promised after Mr Tarrants horrrendous display. as much use as a parachute to a submariner! | kerry |
| PM Ardern and her MP’s are weak, inexperienced in dealing with reality, and lacking courage to make the hard decisions. They need to go, and the sooner the better. | Grahame |
| The Court indicated that it was the Govts role to change the law and then bring the matter to Court again. Nothing was done but the PM now wants urgent action this month for a law change.?? | Trevor |
| The unintended consequences of complacency induced by words again not carried through with constructive action. The ever mounting cost of inexperience and lack of practical life experience. | Brian |
| Clearly it was not and the man by his own actions showed clearly his antagonism towards this country. Another giant Jacinda failure! | Roger |
| No. The pm will always duck for cover. | Willy |
| Filmn Star” Comments from our P.M. are getting more Common. As long as our P.M. is in front of cameras answering contrived questions she is not only happy but will continue to gain publicity. | Rodger |
| Mindsets are formed first before any action is undertaken. Radicalisation starts in the mind. | Ian |
| Too many PC do-gooders in NZ work against the good of the country. | Steven |
| It definitely was not and the Government should be held to account. He should have been deported years ago and so should any others on any “Terrorist Watch Group” Ignore bullshit so called “Rights” and get rid of all of them. Look at Europe and the UK and see what they have introduced. | Alan |
| The Prime Minister and Police Commissioner have successfully turned the focus to allegedly inadequate laws, rather than other potential solutions. Once again, more spin than a tumble dryer. Proof that the destruction of firearms has not made the country safer; that scheme has simply demonised firearms owners. | Gavin |
| what a tale of woe…. should never been on the street, dear o dear, 30 cops tracking him 24/7…… obviously nothing better to do, and 10 shots, WTW??? an elite special tactical group shooter, means the ordinary cop needs the full mag of 17 rounds (glock 17 Police Issue is that was the shooters preference) and then 3-4 mags on his belt, either a PP shot or love the overkill…..NZ Police/Judicial System Corporation fast becoming a lost cause and drifting into tyranary !!!!!! IMHO… | Wayne |
| Classic Ardern government foul up | Kathryn |
| Mental health act has been disfunctional four decades | Terry |
| As usual pm has deflected the issue away from govt. | Jane |
| Unbelievable failure by government to protect the public. Unbelievably weak excuses | David |
| Utter rubbish | Kath |
| Absolute disgrace | steve |
| Not for one minute. | Chris |
| Clearly, from evidence to the contrary and this mans history, no. | Fred |
| Incompetence And Labour now have bought in hundreds of Muslims from Afghanistan & does Adern tell which city they are now located & the leftist NZ media are silent. | Warren |
| Gross mishandling of the whole situation and a huge waste of money and resources. | Graeme |
| Clearly monitoring from outside a building is not sufficient to protect the innocent from extremists. People with terrorist leanings should be deported. | Mark |
| There are two ways to read this. That the effort was complete. That the effort taken was only to keep the public safe, and nothing else. On both counts the answer is definitely NO! | Tom |
| Was this really a terror attack. It was certainly tragic but did the PM take it as another opportunity to get in front of the camera by stressing terror and conveniently overlooking perhaps the bigger issue. Mental illness. My thoughts remain with the families. I just hope the PM did not se this for political gain. | Mike |
| This government is only interested in it’s own agenda; that is to contact to drive a divisive wedge between white New Zealanders and half-caste maori. | Darryl |
| He should have been kicked out after the first offences | Henry |
| Obviously not | Beverley |
| We need laws that puts the power to deport people in the hands of Government on the advice of the Police and SIS. | kevin |
| Why did so called Prime Minister Ardern not want the name ISIS broadcast. I suggest she is an ISIS believer keen to silence any who disapprove or disagree in ISIS beliefs. And is the PM a believer of the Muslim faith? Check here connections with One World Government etc. Plus her desire to block referendum for 3 Waters and 50:50 co-governance with Maori. Are we becoming a dictatorship? It sure looks like it! | Stuart |
| He should have been kicked out years ago. | Tim |
| The legal process should not give refugees any opportunity to appeal court decisions | John |
| The law of the country determined that he could not be penalised, even though it was obvious there was a high risk of offending. Intervention by law officers and anti-terrorist forces was the only remaining course of action available. Thank goodness they are more capable than the flawed legal system. | Martin |
| My Foster sons Birth father claimed refugee static from India of all places and given it. He is a wife beater child beater and drunk who has spent a bit of time in prison surly people like these two winner should be deported as soon as the offend in our country, | Chuck |
| He should have been detained and treated under the Mental Health Act | Pat |
| Take a hard line with undesirables and deport them, same as Australia is doing to NZ. | Gavin |
| God no….. its getting worse | Gillian |
| NO! When Lawyers and Judges let “Points of Law” overrule common sense it proves the Law is an Ass. This was SERIOUS. The terrorist showed by his conduct in prison that he was a ticking time bomb. You can read the results of the games that the Judiciary and Lawyers play in the “wet tram tickets” that are used to dish out very weak sentences. Still it keeps the Jail figures down ant the United Nations will be happy. | Bruce |
| Preventative Detention and deportation should have been enforced. | Don |
| Nobody has a crystal ball – | Kevin |
| One broken immigration dept and courts also. | Jan |
| Just not acceptable | Hylton |
| If he falsely filled out records he should have been deported when that became known | Diane |
| No comments needed really. The man should never have been let into Mew Zealand. Perhaps New Zealand should opt out of some of the international laws after all many countries ignore them completely | Tony |
| I think the state failed him, and I don’t think he should be labelled Terrorist either. I believe he never got the help he so badly needed – he slipped through a huge bureaucratic gap. To label him a terrorist is a huge cop out of governmental inadequacy, but terrorist label will suit the PR storyline, eh? | Pamela |
| Why was he not allowed to go to Malaysia? That would have stopped this whole business dead in its tracks | Ginnie |
| No. The PM was talking rubbish yet again. This is another example of policy failure from an administration that has a record of failure. | JD |
| she’s too useless to realise | greg |
| This young woman, hasn’t got a clue, the country deserves better than someone who preens before the press, and tells lies to the public.. This PM is the worst thing to have happen to this country she has to go., her ignorance is breath taking. | Merryl |
| Another totally bumbling response from Labour | John |
| Should have been deported when the chance was there!!! | Bruce |
| I think all parties in the parliament wish to ensure that planning a terrorist act can be addressed by the legal system | John |
| The immigration appeal Tribunal are so lenient and accepting of refugees statements that they invariably grant residency It’s time they were disbanded | Geoff |
| The PM has done and is continuing doing everything to put her own people at risk, spread fear and growing knowledge that the nation is becoming more and more vulnerable and defenceless. Let alone taxpayers have been supporting an obvious murderer for the past ten years. How many more are around? Does a bigger terrorist event has to happen for the nation to wake up?! | Galina |
| Clearly not, otherwise this would not have happened. That’s a disingenuous and flippant remark by Ardern who wants to get everyone back to focusing on her “wonderful” management of the Covid pandemic. | Derek |
| This Tamil guy lied to get here, then committed several offences and should have been sent packing. Our immigration officials are not up to the tricks people play to get into NZ.. We are often having amnesties for illegals. Time we tighten up our act. We are a small country and can ill afford to have such a wide open door, poorly guarded. | Graeme |
| Certainly not when I learn the background of this young man. | Christine |
| More incompetence | peter |
| Despite the Commissars claims it is clear that this disaster could have been prevented. Either she is mistaken or she is lying. Whichever – she is striving to maintain her pose of being a competent leader – this being clearly false. | Ron |
| It is just WORDS again! | Dick |
| He should have been allowed to travel to Syria but not permitted to return. His refugee status should have been reversed without any right of appeal after the first offence. | Shaun |
| If I am found on enclosed premises with house breaking equipment I can be charged and sent to jail I have not committed a crime so I am jailed for intent Why does this not apply in other cases Do we have live in fear that we might be the next victim How many other people of his ilk are there in the community and how much police time is being spent on monitoring them? | Arthur |
| If anyone ( particularly a known terrorist ) is considered such a serious danger to the safety of the public, that they need to be put under 24/7 surveillance by a group of 30 officers, we have a problem that this government have not given the action that was needed …. that is simply, get them out of New Zealand. This applies to all immigrants and refuges. Dont waste tax payers money on 30 officers around the clock. We have more than enough low life criminals being released out on to our streets, thanks to ” idiot ” Kelvin Davis. | Des |
| Surely he could have been arrested and kept in jail as he was threat to public safety. Can’t begin to imagine all the costs involved in keeping him out of prison | Chris |
| The PM stated that there was nothing to suggest violence would occur and yet this guy assaulted prison officers and was under surveillance. Seems to me that there was a problem. | Gavin |
| Clearly glaring signs were pointing to his likely terrorist attack | Ray |
| So we pay to have some one like him followed around for years. What about a woman who has a protection order against an abusive partner, we don’t pay to have them followed how many woman have been murdered??? | Les |
| Not at all and not good enough. Puy some of these wasted resources into getting better laws and better adherence. | Jenny |
| He should have been allowed to travel to ISIS in the ME, and immediately revoke his NZ Citizenship | richard |
| it is quite obvious that exactly the opposite is true. | Klaus |
| No. Our Mental Health system seems to have become a mere bandaid approach, with no real insulation and support for those that really need it. | Cat |
| The current Govt should be ashamed. No leadership whatsoever | Ronny |
| There is always more that could be done in hindsight | Paul |
| Not much was done to keep the public safe. Way too much was done to protect a terrorist. Why are we so dictated to by the United Nations as to how we run our country? So much NZ taxpaayer money was wasted on following this individual and incarcerating him. If the UN objects why aren’t they footing the bill? Here was an individual who, with the help of lawyers, totally milked the system. Time to stop worrying about the United Nations, refugees and other nations. No more fairy godmothers, lets become a nation that respects it’s citizens. | Peter |
| No they did not listen to the courts advice and took too long to respond so they become responsible for this guys actions. It is unfair to blame police for this as it rest solely on PM s shoulders for her inaction. She cannot but will blame COVID. This govt are all Huey duey and lush the emphasis being all talk and no douse you. | Ken |
| They introduced Gun law changes VERY quickly after the Christchurch shooting.. This person should have been deported years ago.. | donald |
| The Justice system needs an overhaul. Any terrorism offences should come under a different system with deportation the first call and a minimum sentence of 20 years the second and only option. This should be raised as a deterrent for those planning a terrorist attack. | Dave |
| Too much emphasis on so-called white supremists, and a whitewashing of proven islamic terrorism. | Lenna |
| No, they could have found a way to deport him if they wanted. Too much pussy-footing around as usual. | jane |
| Once again, religion gets the blame, as it should. | Allan |
| Planning and the plan itself for a terrorist act us surely a crime. The law must be changed asap. | Peter |
| When is the PM going to be held accountable for her untruths and plain outright Lies. Surely Dr as you put out your weekly stories someone like a Lawyer cannot take these matters further. We vote every week with 90% votes and nothing appears to change? | Hone |
| I’m sorry but I believe that anybody who clearly indicates that they are likely to pose a risk to innocent New Zealand citizens should be deported ….I don’t care what the UN says. | Bill |
| A complete failure by politicians – Left and Right – to actually pass suitable anti terrorist legislation within a short time frame. | Peter B |
| The Christchurch massacre was a perfect opportunity to solve this problem, yet politicians focused on the symptom, not the cause. | Raymond |
| As usual this PM invokes a smoke screen to hide the administration under her control inadequate handling of another instance of ineptitude and failure. More “smoke and mirrors”!! | David |
| Where was the mental health and support in order to integrate him into our society? | Pamela |
| Lack of mental health assistance is reaching epidemic proportions in NZ. even moreso with the stress and uncertainty that follows closely behind covid and lockdowns. | Don |
| As usual, rhetoric and no action from the ineffectual tyrant. | chris |
| She knew the risks, why else was this man being tailed by police? She has blood on her hands and she knows it. | Rod |
| Our lack of support in the metal health area is a key part of the issue here. | Andrew |
| Two choices – either he was fit to be out in public and pose no threat, or the govt should have insisted he got the recommended care. As they did not do this, he was not safe in the public arena. The blood in on JAs hands. | Michele |
| Eventually, the Police fixed the problem. But, it should not have been their problem. Deportation should have been immediate. His permanent residency needed to be conditional on lawful conduct: first breach and he was gone. Many will disagree – to those, I say take him into your home and fully support him for the rest of his life in New Zealand. If you are not willing to put up, then shut up. | Mark |
| If he was considered justified for continuous monitoring by undercover police then he was surely a risk to public safety and should have been dismissed under the Immigration Act. | Graham |
| he should have been allowed to fight for Isis and not allowed back in or better still , killed not arrested at the airport- duh | john |
| The PM changed the gun laws after ChCh v. Quickly, and pushed through the local body no referendum law quickly , both for their political agenda. This law could easily have been changed. | Rod |
| He should have been allowed to leave NZ when there was the chance without taxpayers money having to support, imprison him and have 30 police and special police protect the public from him. | Mark |
| This spin-obsessed PM will undoubtedly be using this instance of an appalling misuse of taxpayers’ money (many years of terrorising a mentally ill person) as a ‘reason’ for further attacks on our own rights. As George Bernard Shaw once said ‘The haughty American nation forces the black man to clean its boots, and then condemns the black man by saying he is only a bootblack’. | Ron |
| His conduct in the prison at Paremoremo was sufficient to keep him in custody under the Mental Health Act Also, the so-called supervision by the police was non-existent at the time of the stabbing – they were not even in the supermarket. | Ross |
| It is JIHAD, done in the aim of advancing islam, not simply terrorism. It will inevitably cause terror, but this is JIHAD. He yelled “alla akbar” while terrorising New Zealanders, but this was an act of JIHAD, and should be named as such. | Coral |
| No there is a political agenda and COVID is just a smoke screen for lies,, half truths and bucket loads of political spin. Look at the spin with a fairly minor vaccination purchase and compare to Scott Morrisons big deal. | Ann |
| self explanatory | paul |
| Just because he could not be deported, there was no reason why he could not have been under closer supervision or in custody. | Alan |
| The individual should not have been in the country – problem solved. | Graham |
| Failures at every level of government bureaucracy. | Bill |
| He should have been able to leave when he wanted | Erin |
| The justice system is flawed he should never have been granted permanent residency | Robert |
| Big sister knew her statement was false. | Paul |
| PM couldn’t run a pie cart. | stu |
| There is a place where you can be 100% safe. It’s called isolation in a prison – you can’t interact with anyone, all your meals are provided, and nobody and nothing can hurt you. So yeah – the authoritarian parasites can always “do more” in the name of “safety”. Good to see people are finally waking up to what was obvious a decade or two ago when “health and safety” was just starting to spread itself like the cancer it is into New Zealand culture and society . | Pavel |
| She’s a waste of space | Murray |
| She constantly puts the public at risk by brining these socially incompatible, dole bludging, intolerant and religiously bigoted people into NZ. | Gene |
| To keep her in power, more like | Ted |
| Govt still had not made amendments as required after the mosque attacks | Margaret |
| We need these politicians to step outside their protected bubbles. They seem to have their empathy with the average New Zealander. They also have no accountability anymore. We need to have immigrants who contribute to the betterment of our country not become a drain on our resources. I think New Zealanders are waking up to the downright incompetence of many of those ele ted to our parliament. We need a new political party which regards all New Zealanders as equal. | Jani e |
| No, after Samsudeen her line was “this is a lone wolf attack and is the responsibility of the attacker only”. After Tarrant apparently from the reaction it was the responsibility of all gun owners as she rushed through amendment to gun laws as well as increased funding for SIS to increase surveillance on right wing, white supremicists making it the responsibility of all white folk. Of course in hunting down white fanatics they took their eye off the ball or where most attention should be given. Did I hear there could be in the region of 50 others? How much are they costing to track? What a bloody circus and no wonder Whites are looking to get out of the country in droves. Enjoy | Terry |
| No – when you know the detail of the case, it is a tragedy exacerbated by government incompetence. The PM needs to be held to account. | Trevor |
| The new law they are proposing will be a disaster. The noose will undoubtedly be tightened around the necks of people standing up against separatism. Under Ardern, NZ is becoming a Police State. | Murray |
| There should be an inquiry into the State’s failings in this case, that also calls into question the actions of the Prime Minister. | Phillip |
| Where was the PM’s compassions in dealing with this troubled young man? The pressure the authorities put on him was intolerable. And where was the mental health support that might have prevented this tragedy? | Barb |
| There are definitely two sides to this story. | Dale |