A royal commission will be held into whether New Zealand authorities could have prevented the terror attack on mosques that killed 50 people, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has announced on Monday.
Since the shootings in Christchurch on March 15, questions have been asked about how the lone accused, 28-year-old Australian white supremacist Brenton Tarrant, was not flagged by security agencies on either side of the Tasman. W
hile the government last week promised a probe would be held, Ardern on Monday confirmed it would be a royal commission — the most serious form of investigation possible into failures of government.
“While New Zealanders and Muslim communities around the world are both grieving and showing compassion, they are also quite rightly asking about how this terror attack was able to happen here,” she told reporters in Wellington on Monday.
Intelligence agencies, police, customs and the immigration department will all be subject to investigation.
