CHRISTCHURCH
Interview: Countering violent extremism on the front foot John Borland, a former detective in the Queensland Police Intelligence, Counter-Terrorism and Major Events Command, suggests that a more proactive mindset is needed to manage the ongoing threat of violent extremism.
NZSM: Right-wing extremist terror attacks have been on the rise in the US and in Europe. Has New Zealand’s national security and law enforcement community been paying adequate attention to the right-wing threat? JB: I think there should be as much focus on the issues within the country as there is focus on preventing risk later on, such at the border or incident response stage. I haven’t had much involvement with the New Zealand counterterrorism measures other than what’s
publicly available, so I can’t factually say yes or no, but I think generally as a community we focus a lot more on the ‘risk’ from outside and tend to forget about the cancer already within the community. From my experiences in the Queensland Police Counter Terrorism unit, I investigated as many cases for international risk as I did for ‘homegrown’ risk so I strongly believe the focus should be more reflective of this. As a society we need to erase the white noise of these extremist attacks and look at the core issue which is poor mental health which is influenced by the internet. NZSM: The Christchurch attack bears some similarities to the Pittsburgh Synagogue shooting of 27 October 2018 in the US. What similarities do you see with other recent attacks internationally?
John Borland of Auckland-based ISACORP which provides risk solutions for corporate and insurance enterprises
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NZSM
JB: The use of firearms and the apparent retaliation on behalf of Europeans draws similarities. The government is now reacting to the shooting by foreshadowing a change to gun laws, which arguably should have been done in 2017 with the previous inquiry. What is interesting about this shooting, having read the offender’s manifesto, is that this is one of only very few attacks I have studied that appears to involve a non-religious extremist ideology, as opposed to one based explicitly on religion. NZSM: To what extent might there be an international dimension to this
incident, in terms of its motivation, conception, coordination, planning, preparation and execution? JB: Having read the manifesto in its entirety, I have no doubt there is an international influence in relation to the offender’s mindset with respect to all of the above – even researching material on the internet provides this avenue for international influence. This unfortunately can’t be stopped, but it can be monitored appropriately by authorities. As has been widely stated – the attack is similar to many of video games available on the internet, which raises questions around whether or not these games are normalising and influencing this sort of behaviour – especially when some gamers are now seen as celebrities and paid millions to promote such games. Of the matters I investigated in Australia involving suspect radicals/ extremists, every case had an element of international influence – be it researching how to develop weaponry, brainstorming ideas with other ‘at risk’ persons, or obtaining chemicals to ship overseas. NZSM: Online forums providing outlets for extremist ideologies and hate speech appear to play a role in attacks such as this. What possible mechanisms do the New Zealand government have in terms of enhanced monitoring and controls? JB: Technology is our worst enemy and greatest weapon in the war against terrorism, there is no excuse for not
April/May 2019
