Largest coronial inquest in New Zealand history begins

The inquest is the first of two that will answer critical questions about what happened on March 15, 2019.

Mōrena, and welcome to The Bulletin for Wednesday, October 25, by Anna Rawhiti-Connell. Presented in partnership with Z Energy.

In today’s edition: Wellington city council to vote on spending further $147m on town hall today; Cyclone Lola downgraded but Vanuatu still on high alert; trouble in predator free paradise; but first, as the coronial inquest into the 2019 terrorist attacks gets underway, an outgoing MP expresses his regret over the promised but incomplete national security overhaul

Masjid An-Nur (Al Noor Mosque) imam Gamal Fouda. (Image: Supplied)

‘Transition from darkness to light’

As today’s editorial in the Herald (paywalled) surmises, the world is a very different place “from the autumn afternoon in 2019 when 51 people were massacred and 40 others wounded at two Christchurch mosques.” It has been over four years since the terrorist attacks of March 2019. For members of the victim’s families, the injured, others who were at the mosques on the day and the community at large, the process of getting answers to crucial questions only began yesterday, as the largest coronial inquest in New Zealand history began. Stewart Sowman-Lund explains its significance, the long road to the inquest and what will be investigated. As deputy chief coroner Brigitte Windley said yesterday as proceedings opened, people were “often surprised to learn that there are matters related to March 15 still under inquiry” and explained that “a coronial inquiry is a dual focus on the past and on the future”. “I ask that we bring the memories of the 51 lives that were lost to this court so that we may give them a voice, so that we can transition from darkness to light, so that we may emerge with a better understanding of the facts and the truth is revealed by the evidence that we get,” she said.

Second inquest to investigate firearms licensing and role of online platforms

This is the first of two inquests and as Sowman-Lund explains, will investigate ten key issues. Yesterday afternoon segments of footage from the terrorist’s live stream were played. Footage from the day of the attacks continues to resurface on Twitter. The second inquest will consider any outstanding issues, including whether the firearms licensing process that allowed the terrorist to access his weapon can be “causally connected” to the attacks and whether social media and online platforms played a material role in his radicalisation.

Andrew Little’s one regret

In an interview with The Post, departing MP Andrew Little cites not completing the overhaul of New Zealand’s national security system as his one regret. That overhaul included the creation of a new national security agency that was promised after the terror attacks. Little was minister responsible for responding to the Royal Commission to the mosque attacks, and he says he did the “spade work”, but his bosses responsible for the national security system, Dame Jacinda Ardern and then Chris Hipkins, were justifiably tied up with issues of greater priority. The Muslim community has repeatedly expressed frustration about the delays and a lack of the promised communication and transparency.

Overhaul of national security and 52 other laws in limbo

The future of the national security system overhaul now lies in the hands of the incoming government. By convention, the prime minister holds the National Security and Intelligence portfolio. There are also 52 laws currently in a state of limbo following the election. The Labour government set a fast pace in trying to get new laws through parliament in its last months in power, but not everything has made it through. Natasha Wilson, a public law specialist at Buddle Findlay, outlines the bills in question and what may happen to them once the business of government starts up again.

A message from Spinoff editor Madeleine Chapman

Thanks to the generous support of Spinoff Members, we were able to cover this election more expansively than ever before with writers reporting from Dunedin, Christchurch, Wellington, New Plymouth, Wairarapa, Gisborne, Auckland and Northland. With the results in, we will continue to interrogate and report on those who lead this country with rigour, range and humour. If you value The Spinoff’s political coverage, now is a great time to join the thousands of people who support The Spinoff by becoming a member or making a donation.

- Madeleine Chapman, Spinoff editor

Wellington city council to vote on Town Hall spend

As Georgina Campbell reports for the Herald, Wellington city council will vote today on spending an additional $147m on the Wellington Town Hall strengthening project. A cost increase was announced earlier this month, taking the total projected cost from $182m to a possible $329m. Councillor Rebecca Matthews said on Twitter, that she felt despondent, writing, “Such limited options to spending all this money on a building that would never be built today when there are so many other more important things to do. Please find me a wayback machine to avoid this shit show.” Council officials have advised against other options like stopping the project and mothballing the building and demolishing the building has been deemed unrealistic because of its heritage listing and consenting constraints. The NZ Initiative’s Eric Crampton has offered an alternative viewpoint, arguing the council could try and introduce a local bill that would enable the council to delist buildings by simple majority vote without right of appeal.

Cyclone Lola downgraded, due to make landfall

At the time of writing, severe tropical cyclone Lola is due to make landfall on Malekula Island in Vanuatu. The cyclone was downgraded to a category four cyclone last night with average wind speeds close to the centre of 185km/h with gusts reaching 260km/h. Because the cyclone is slow moving, meteorologist Samisoni Waqavakatog says it will bring more destruction but is expected to be less intense when it makes landfall. Vanuatu’s capital, Port Vila, is on high alert and all government offices, markets, and banks are closed until further notice.

Trouble in predator free paradise?

The Post is currently publishing a five-part series from Eugene Bingham interrogating New Zealand’s goal to become predator free by 2050. Launched in 2016 by then-prime minister Sir John Key, it is, as Bingham writes, “a noble goal” and “heartwarming stuff”. “If you believe the propaganda, seven years on, we are winning” in the fight against predators”, he writes. However, Bingham reveals there is growing disquiet about the goal and confusion about roles and responsibilities in the pursuit of the goal. In part two of the series published yesterday, Bingham reveals details of the company that’s quietly become a key part of delivering on the goal, raising the question of whether conservation has been partly privatised. This morning’s article looks at the $8b cost of the next phase of work and the impact the end of the Jobs for Nature and Provincial Growth Fund programmes will have on progress.

Click and Collect

• New Zealand’s biggest bank is lifting its home loan rates

• Scientists say no direct link between yesterday’s and Monday night’s widely felt earthquakes in the South Island

• New director appointed to lead Dunedin Study

• Chief Ombudsman says he does not consider “controversy, complexity, or the potential for embarrassment” to be good reasons to exclude the public from council workshops and has reprimanded councils for doing so

• Why is there such a difference in the price of the same bread at supermarkets of the same name? Throwback to May 2022 when we had the same issue with the price of eggs, and supermarkets were warned to “change fast or face regulation.”

Right now on The Spinoff

Joel MacManus on why the demolition of a heritage-listed building after a suspected arson attack is good for Wellington. Stewart Sowman-Lund rounds up The Spinoff’s picks for who might lead Labour into the 2026 election. Two secondary school teachers with a young child break down their expenses for The Cost of Being. Library fans respond to recent comments by Christchurch mayor Phil Mauger about libraries. The Spinoff Review of Books compiles a reading guide for the Palestine conflict. Alex Casey asks whether Married at First Sight NZ can escape its legacy of dodgy contestants and production scandals.

Sporting snippets

• Diamonds coach open to a fifth test against New Zealand to decide the Constellation Cup

• The 2027 Rugby World Cup will expand to include 24 teams and will be played across six weeks, instead of seven

Are you paying attention?

A couple of interesting companion reads on the subjects of reading and attention spans. Both are short. I’ve seen this piece from the Financial Times about the age of deep reading being over shared a lot, accompanied by quite bleak, nihilistic commentary or moral judgement about the virtues of certain forms of media over others. The second read from the Guardian counters the nostalgia and moral panic of the first. Written by a professor of Shakespeare studies, it argues, “immersive concentration, in, say, reading, was never a natural default. It, too, was a learned behaviour, prompted by new media, produced by specific historical and technical circumstances. We’re not losing the ability to concentrate, merely directing it towards different media.”

Got some feedback about The Bulletin, or anything in the news? Get in touch with me at thebulletin@thespinoff.co.nz.

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