Norwegian terrorist's manifesto, which inspired Christchurch killer, banned in New Zealand

The Christchurch and Oslo terrorists.
The Christchurch and Oslo terrorists. Photo credit: Reuters

Writings of a Norwegian mass killer who inspired the man who carried out the Christchurch mosque attacks have been banned in New Zealand. 

Chief censor David Shanks on Saturday declared Anders Breivik's manifesto objectionable, the New Zealand Herald reported, making it illegal to possess or access. 

Breivik, a white supremacist and self-proclaimed Nazi, killed eight people in a bomb attack and 69 more in a mass shooting in 2011. 

His manifesto - more than 1500 pages long - detailed his planning and motivations, and was cited in the Christchurch terrorist's own manifesto, which was banned a week after the attacks on March 15, 2019, which left more than 50 people dead. 

The Herald reported Shanks as describing Breivik's manifesto as a "bloated, dense, and lengthy document that is partly a compendium of pseudo-intellectual texts that reflect a conspiratorial far-right worldview, partly a narcissistic, aggrandised autobiography, partly a tool for radicalisation, partly an instructional manual for terroristic violence, and partly a declaration of war".

He said it "presents a real risk to the safety and security of New Zealanders", as much of it reportedly details how to plot an attack. 

A royal commission into the 2019 attacks found the Australian-born Christchurch terrorist owned a copy of Breivik's manifesto, having first accessed it two years prior. 

The Christchurch terrorist's manifesto was the 42nd publication to be banned by the Chief Censor, the rest magazines published by Islamic terror organisations Islamic State and al-Qaeda.