NZ to hold Royal Commission of Enquiry into Christchurch shooting

New Zealand’s Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has announced that a Royal Commission of Inquiry will be held into the Christchurch mosques terror attack.

“It is important that no stone is left unturned to get to the bottom of how this act of terrorism occurred and what, if any, opportunities we had to stop it,” Ardern told reporters at Parliament House in the capital, Wellington.

People were asking how the attack, in which 50 people died and dozens more injured, was able to take place, including how the alleged gunman obtained the weapons, the role of social media and the role of agencies, she said.

A suspected white supremacist has been charged with one count of murder over the Christchurch shootings and will next appear in court on April 5. Ardern has said the man had not been on any watch lists in New Zealand or Australia.

Ardern said she also had questions.

She said a major focus of the inquiry would be whether security agencies focused their attention on the right issues and whether there were any clues that were missed.

It would also include the role of social media and the suspect’s ability to obtain a weapon, Ardern said.

The precise terms of reference for the royal commission have yet to be announced but Ardern’s decision to call such an inquiry was welcomed by members of New Zealand’s Muslim community.

Royal commissions were reserved for the gravest of events and the mosques attack was one of those, she said.

Ardern said the inquiry would look at events leading up to the attack rather than the response - that would come later.

The Prime Minister said the seriousness of the attack and the need for answers needed to be weighed up. That would be done when the terms of reference were drawn up, and the names of the inquirers released.

Ardern said she and other ministers would meet this afternoon with Brad Smith of Microsoft to further discuss the role of social media following the sharing of live-streamed video of the alleged gunman's actions.