New Zealand PM Jacinda Ardern has vowed to toughen anti-terror laws following Friday’s knife attack in Auckland by a man who was under police surveillance. The knife-wielding militant, known to the authorities stabbed and wounded seven people in a supermarket this month. Police shot dead the 32-year-old attacker, a Sri Lankan national who had been convicted and imprisoned for about three years before being released in July, moments after he launched his stabbing spree on Friday.
The shocking broad daylight attack has raised questions about the effectiveness of the nation’s counter-terrorism laws, which were due to be overhauled in the wake of the 2019 Christchurch mosque killings by Australian far-right terrorist Brenton Tarrant. The Counter Terror Legislation Bill criminalises planning and preparation that might lead to terror attack, closing what critics have said has been a loophole allowing plotters to stay free. But Ardern said it would not be fair to assume that the tighter law would have made a difference in this case. Ardern said earlier the man was inspired by the Islamic State militant group and was being monitored constantly but could not be kept in prison by law any longer. “I am committing, that as soon as Parliament resumes, we will complete that work – that means working to pass the law as soon as possible, and no later than by the end of this month,” Ardern told a news conference. The attacker, a known supporter of Islamic State, was shot dead by police. Ms Ardern, who described the stabbings as a “terrorist attack”, said she expected that changes to the country’s counter-terrorism legislation would be backed by parliament by the end of September. The attacker had been arrested a number of times before Friday’s incident. But Ms Ardern said that every legal avenue to keep him out of the community had been exhausted.
