A common concern also voiced at the time was that 'the GCSB was an outpost of the NSA and that its activities were linking us to America's wars'. The timeline below shows the validity of the concern. From RadioNZ 'Timeline: Security services, government and Muslim community before the Christchurch mosque attacks', the timeline highlights the anti-Arabic anti-Muslim focus of the security intelligence in this country.
Hand in hand with the timeline though, should be a timeline of the constant fear mongering anti-Muslim rhetoric that the government and its agencies led and participated in. Remember Rebecca Kiterridge and the government on the 'Jihadi Brides' and the November 2013 killing of a NZer in Yemen as a result of a US drone strike? Remember that we supply data used in drone strikes?
NZ is so intertwined with the Five Eyes that we blindly accept the US’s lead in who should be the 'enemy'. We need to be fearful of the Five-Eyes.
From RadioNZ: Before the Christchurch mosque attacks
- 2002 - New Zealand enacts Terrorism Suppression Act. As of 2019, no one has ever been charged under Act
- 2009-2019 - Not one specific mention in this period of the threat from white supremacists or right-wing nationalism in SIS or GCSB public documents
- 2010-2017 - Figures from this period show 92 far-right attacks compared with 38 by jihadists* in US
- July 2011 - 77 people killed in Norway by white supremacist shooter
- 2012 on - Series of reviews of NZ security agencies after scandals including the Kim Dotcom spying
- 2013 - National-led government abandons intrusive internet surveillance
- 2013 on - Flood of refugees into Europe begins
- 2014 - Suite of changes to national security set up including three new entities - a Strategic Risk and Resilience Panel, Security and Intelligence Board and Hazard Risk Board
- 2015-2018 - Series of budget boosts for SIS and GCSB, including (in 2016) of $178m over 4 years
- 2015 - Corrections Department sets up Countering Violent Extremism working group as part of government's counter-terrorism strategy
- June 2015 - Nine killed by white supremacist at African-American church in South Carolina, United States **
- December 2015 - New Zealand Muslims hold first community meetings to discuss counter-terrorism
- June 2016 - Two men sentenced in Auckland over Islamic State material
- October 2016 - Islamic Women's Council raises fears of far-right with SIS
- 2017-18 - Security agencies set up new National Risk Unit and new National Security Workforce team, plus get a new specialist coordinator for counter-terrorism
- 2017 - Research finds NZ Muslims believe government surveillance is excessive
- 2017 to early 2018 - Muslim community in numerous meetings with government seeking but failing to get national wellbeing strategy
- January 2017 - Six killed at mosque in Quebec, Canada
- September 2017 - New Zealand's new Intelligence and Security Act 2017 comes into force
- June 2018 - SIS begins to increase its efforts to assess far-right threat
- November 2018 - Eleven killed by far right shooter in Pittsburgh, US
- March 2019 - SIS and GCSB confirm they had no intelligence about the Christchurch terror accused
** This list of far-right attacks is far from exhaustive
