2 years ago I was walking into MediaWorks to appear on an end of week political review. There had been stories circulating of mass shootings in Christchurch and the show got cancelled 10 minutes before we went to air as the magnitude of casualties started to jump.
I was on the phone talking with contacts and the enormity of what we were facing started dawning on me.
I accidentally watched the video on Facebook as it appeared in my feed and the grotesque shock of what I was witnessing almost made me sick. Within 20minutes I had the terrorists manifesto and was reading his insane justifications for his white supremacy terrorism.
The horror of that day should stain us, it must stain us, it would be wrong if we didn’t allow this to stain us.
We must wrap our love around those injured and we must never allow this to ever happen again.
Here are the winners and losers marking this 2 year anniversary of trauma since the Christchurch terror attack.
WINNERS:
Jacinda Ardern – Her remarkable leadership in this moment of national atrocity set the stage for kindness to become a tool for immense political good. Her empathy, her decision to wear the headscarf as a mark of respect, her immediate leadership, her ability to reach out and comfort during intense grief. She led with the Christchurch Call and banning these types of guns. Her immediate position was ‘this is not us’, she refused to speak the terrorist’s name and she pulled the entire country through a moment of shock and horror. She made us all proud in a way we never knew we could feel pride.
Muslim Community – The incredible forgiveness and grace the Muslim Community have shown the rest of New Zealand in the wake of this appalling violence has reset our consciousness and our parameters for what it is to be included and what it means to be a New Zealander. In their grief they have taught us more about love than we could have possibly imagined.
People of Christchurch – After all the earthquakes, for the people of Christchurch to have to experience this grotesque spasm of hate is a terrible pain for that city. The courage so many ordinary people showed that day in the face of such evil extremism is something every Kiwi can take deep honour in.
Police response on the day – The incredible speed the NZ Police operated that day, and managed to end this without violence is testament to them as a force when dealing with an immediate crisis as foul as this. They all did us proud that day.
NZ Justice – The white supremacist terrorist was shown NZ Justice, full of mercy within a fair trial where he had full access to his legal rights. Some demanded we send him to Australia and they could deal with the cost of his imprisonment but it is righteous he taste NZ justice and serve his full sentence here no matter the cost! He is in our maximum security prison for life and has only half an hour of the Living Channel as entertainment each day. That in of itself seems a punishment beyond endurance. Our Legal system was tested and it stood up to scrutiny while history was watching. Our merciful justice will reverberate down history’s long corridor well after his bones have withered into dust.
NZ Intelligence Apparatus – One of the biggest winners are the NZ Intelligence Apparatus who suffered a total and utter cascade failure and have managed to get away with it!
When it’s Nicky Hager, Māori Nationalists, Environmentalists, MANA, Greenpeace and Muslim students, the Intelligence Apparatus can’t move fast enough to breach their civil rights. However when it is a white supremacist plotting a terror attack for 2 years on NZ soil and who had numerous red flags pop up, suddenly our $200million per year Intelligence Agencies are useless???
This is the list of the NZ security apparatus, many acronyms you’ve never heard of, who are supposed to keep us safe with mass surveillance powers from this very type of terrorism, and I WILL CONTINUE PRINTING THIS LIST until you start appreciating how enormous a failure this was…
- The SIS (Secret Intelligence Services)
- The GCSB (Government Communications Security Bureau)
- The NSG (National Security Group)
- The Police Intelligence Unit
- The CNSN (Cabinet National Security Committee)
- The ODESC (Officials’ Committee for Domestic and External Security Coordination)
- The SIB (Security and Intelligence Board)
- The CTCC (Counter-Terrorism Coordinating Committee)
- The NICC ( National Intelligence Coordination Committee)
- The IAD (Intelligence and Assessments Directorate)
- The NRU (National Risk Unit)
- The NSPD (National Security Policy Directorate)
…watching the Left allow the entire NZ Intelligence apparatus off the hook for their total failure with the Christchurch terror attacks by demanding hate speech laws is one of the great intellectual failures of 2020 and 2021.
LOSERS:
Greens – In the puritanical world of the woke, micro aggressions lead immediately to macro violence, and this is where they get their sanctimonious righteousness to micro aggression police anything that triggers them. In the wake of the atrocity, Jacinda spoke clearly and firmly that this violence isn’t us, sadly the Greens and their middle class identity politics clique couldn’t help themselves and of course blamed this terror attack committed by an Australian on white New Zealanders. So many Aucklanders were sickened that the woke and the Greens would blame this on all white people it led to a mass walk out at the Auckland Domain memorial.
Manbaby Gun Owners – These fucking ungracious Manbaby pricks actually have the audacity to claim they are the real victims of this terror attack because they have lost the right to own their favourite sub machine gun toys. If it looks like a sub machine gun, sounds like a sub machine gain and kills like a sub machine gun, it’s a fucking sub machine gun. Civilians don’t need sub machine guns. End of story.
How we didn’t listen to victims – One of the cruelest ironies here was that the Muslim Community had been complaining about a spike in street harassment and intimidation for years leading up to this atrocity. We should have listened to their fears with far more care. The manner in which we haven’t supported all those lost and hurt by this terror attack is unacceptable and a whole of Government response is required. It pains me to be so critical because we did so many things right in response, but the lacklustre processes for extra resources have been a shambles.
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Hate Speech Legislation – In response to this atrocity, rather than hold the failures of the Intelligence Apparatus to account, the Government have decided new Hate Speech laws are magically required to prevent the next white supremacy atrocity.
Apparently a blasphemy law and criminalising the misuse of pronouns will keep us safe from white supremacy terrorism!
I read the terrorist’s manifesto and I don’t recall him referring to Trans Allies or gender identity, so why criminalising the misuse of pronouns is being mooted as a response to white supremacy terrorism is utterly beyond me and if NZ passes religious hate speech laws, I’m afraid I have no choice but to immediately break that law for the sake of our Democracy!
Remember, this new religious hate speech law will specifically target ‘hate’ towards religious beliefs???
But many religious beliefs are ridiculous. Under this law, ‘The Life of Brian’ would be considered hate speech…
From the archive, 30 August 1979: Nothing funny about Life of Brian’s Jesus joke
The Catholic archdiocese has called Life of Brian a “blasphemy”, adding that it was a “crime against religion which holds the person of Christ up to comic ridicule.”
The Jewish groups are equally damning. They regard the film as “grieviously insultlng,” and have described it as “a vicious attack on Judaism and the Bible, and a cruel mockery of Christian religious feelings as well.”
…I philosophically hate religion for many, many, many good reasons, but because NZ is a liberal progressive democracy, I tolerate religion.
I tolerate Scientology, I tolerate the Exclusive Brethren & I tolerate those who believe in a magical invisible flying wizard for all their personal choices!
I also tolerate that they don’t pay tax – BUT I SURE AS FUCK refuse point blank to fear them!
We lose free speech to criticise religion? How the hell is that anything other than a victory for the terrorist?
This is a liberal progressive SECULAR Democracy, if you want to believe in crazy myths and crazy invisible magical flying beings, that is your total right to, but equally, it’s my right to mock those beliefs when they collide with my individual rights
It’s particularly galling because the problem wasn’t hate speech laws, the problem was that the entire Intelligence apparatus of NZ didn’t bother doing their job, which is to protect us from the next possible terror threat!
White Supremacists – Remember Comrades. We may disagree on many things, but there are some things we must always agree on, smash white supremacy Nazis. Always.
CONCLUSION:
There has to be a way to protect minorities so that they have the same agency as everyone else that doesn’t buy the Left into a destructive free speech war we will lose.
Everyone in a liberal progressive democracy deserves the same agency. Muslims, Queer or Trans people shouldn’t feel abused and threatened or frightened of simply being in public. Graeme Edgler has written extensively upon this and makes excellent points on how we could balance freedom of speech with the right to not feel threatened.
The debate must be focused on anti-harassment, not free speech!
It must also be focused on better public broadcasting and more regulations on social media (including taxes to fund that journalism) to stop the algorithms from weaponising debate.
The Prime Minister is emotionally welded to the Christchurch atrocity because she waded so deep through the trauma and raw pain in its aftermath.
She almost had to have her arm popped out of its socket to finally cancel the Christchurch memorial last year and only because the eruption of Covid might have tuned the memorial into a super spreader event, and I think even Mohammed would roll his eyes over the irony of that.
Jacinda wouldn’t be human if she hadn’t been imprinted deeply by that grief and horror, which unfortunately means she will burn any and all political capital in forcing these hate speech laws through, which is inane because this happened from a cascade failure of the intelligence services – blasphemy laws and gender identity hate speech isn’t a solution to a cascade intelligence failure!
This massacre, this horror inflicted upon innocent people as they went to worship by a white supremacist terrorist should shock us and live with us as a constant reminder that hate and violence can not, must not and will not warp us into the monsters the Terrorist wanted us to become.
We are better than his obscene vengeance fantasies that have no relevance in the real world.
We should pity and turn away in disgust at the white supremacist terrorist, we will never bow in fear to his malevolence.
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Losers – Citizens right to be protected from gun violence.
It exposed to a small extent our horrendously weak gun laws, Years in the making this country is awash with guns and it was and is pathetically governed.. Honestly, the NRA would be proud.
But the mess the Arms Act amendments were post this mass murder solved nothing, despite the uncritical, non analysis praise Jacinda’s government received. In fact they are a compromised shambles that gun nuts laugh about and are in many ways worse because of the acts inane illogical complexity. Did you know you can buy a semi automatic, 10 mag .22 rifle that looks like those infamous military style guns? With a basic gun licence. Why Jacinda? Why?
Our gun laws remain disgracefully weak and disgracefully governed. Just ask the all the victims in NZ who on a daily basis who are either shot or have guns pointed at them! Those of course still left around to ask.
New Zealanders are still waiting for our government to do the right thing on firearms and give the law teeth and real governance. Wouldn’t hold my breath knowing this lot though.
What you forgot to add to the loosers was the 258 people killed and 500 injured in the easter Sri Lanka reprisal attach.
The biggest losers of all, not yet recognised by almost anyone, is the climate and our biodiversity. Pest control is now far more difficult without adequate firearms, and feral deer, goat, wallaby and pig numbers are climbing rapidly and devastating our ecology. Less trees established equals less carbon sequestration. Less natural forest succession because forest understorey regrowth is disappearing. DOC land is starting to look pretty sad is some areas, due to the inadequate pest control since the firearms law changes.
On my small farm I have lost 30,000 exotic trees and 100,000 nikau palms which I had planted myself, and been destroyed by feral deer and goats. Multiply this over the entire country and the devastation is phenomenal.
It is true that the firearms best suited to pest control in our forests are also the ones best suited to mass murders. Do we want to live in a country without forests and over-riden by feral pest animals but feel safe from firearms crime (assuming no drug importers bring in firearms too), or do we accept there is always some risk in everything in life, as we do with our annual road toll? The old NZ firearms laws were considered world leading, it was the police underfunding the licensing system that was primarily the cause of of the loopholes in the law, and in allowing people like Tarrant and active gang members from obtaining firearms laws. If the law had been implemented properly the CHCH atrocity would not have occurred. The 8000 licenced shooters with the E endorsed firearms licences allowing them to legally own the military style semi automatic rifles were actually responsible for exactly 0.0% of firearm violence, so getting rid of this category cannot be seen to have been evidence based. The current law is the worst of both worlds, massive pest increases with resulting ecological devastation, while the criminals still have firearms and use them in criminal activity.
I consider this a major fail for the previous Coalition Govt.
FFS Martyn, 51 innocent people got massacred and 40 injured.
There are no winners.
Of course there are winners. Our spy’s got away with doing a half armed job. Do you feel protected from foreign and domestic terrorism?
Bravo, well said.
There were a number of televised interviews with the Islamic community this week with people appealing to the government for bulk financial compensation packages to ease their pain. Pretty grotesque campaigning at this time of reflection. Ardern responded by saying a wider approach to support (assumed to mean legislative change) would have to be implemented rather than on specific instances such as this massacre, as horrific as this one atrocity was. As many people are murdered every year in this country as in the mosque that day, maybe March 15 could be set aside to remember all victims of crime. If we’re discussing compensation though, look to the indigenous population for perspective, who have received for the loss of their forebears, nation and future, about $1500 each for two hundred years of colonisation (about $7 a year each with change). This compensation package, tied up in tribal administration safeboxes and pilfered trust accounts, will never be accessed by the average Maori citizen as tangible assets such as land to live on, but as a training grant (i.e. giving money back to the crown), unless of course one is tribal elite with privileged access to the miniscule compensation offered by the government (if some thief trustee doesn’t steal it first). Good luck with that.
Christchurch terror attack: Jacinda Ardern says Government can’t expand ACC cover for traumatised victims
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/300252628/christchurch-terror-attack-jacinda-ardern-says-government-cant-expand-acc-cover-for-traumatised-victims
vs
Illegally working overstayer dies on the job – ACC payment made to widow in China
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/illegally-working-overstayer-dies-on-the-job-acc-payment-made-to-widow-in-china/OWADEJMGCUYM36WLF6YNKUA2SE/
Something is wrong with how NZ social welfare and our legal system now seem more interested in non residents relative pay outs of social welfare and ACC.
It’s like NZ is a Mecca for illegal behaviour which is rewarded financially while victims get neokindness.
(I’m not advocating that ACC should give lump payouts for mental health, but am thinking something seems very wrong with the discrepancy of the above cases, and how neokindness is operating in NZ).
“Every person commits an offence and is liable on conviction to imprisonment for a term not exceeding three years who:
… b) says or otherwise publishes or communicates, any words or material that … is… insulting to such group of persons.”
From Chapter 3 paragraph 51 of the Royal Commission Of Inquiry Into The Terrorist Attack.
Gloriavale and Brian Tamaki will be unable to contain their excitement. And it’s no secret that they have deep pockets from all the poor people they’ve been rorting over the years.
It’s a cruel irony that the most publicly hated demographic in New Zealand isn’t on the list: beneficiaries.
From Chapter 3 paragraph 51 of the Royal Commission Of Inquiry Into The Terrorist Attack:
“Every person commits an offence and is liable on conviction to imprisonment for a term not exceeding three years who:
… b) says or otherwise publishes or communicates, any words or material that … is… insulting to such group of persons.”
Gloriavale and Brian Tamaki will be unable to contain their excitement. And it’s no secret that they have deep pockets from all the poor people they’ve been rorting over the years.
It’s a cruel irony that the most publicly hated demographic in New Zealand isn’t on the list: beneficiaries.
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