Terrorism in New Zealand

On 30 April 1951, during an industrial dispute, a rail bridge was blown up near Huntly, Waikato. The train drivers were warned in advance and the bombing severely disrupted coal supplies. Sidney Holland, the Prime Minister of the time, called it an "infamous act of terrorism".[12] Academic Lance Beath writes that the bombing might not be considered a "terrorist" incident because there was no intent to kill or injure people and the only objective was blocking supplies.[13]

In 1969–70 there were multiple bombings and attempted bombings of military bases and other sites related to the New Zealand military. The bombings were in protest against New Zealand's involvement in the Vietnam War.[11] On one occasion, in 1969, four students who were protesting against the war attempted to blow up the flagpole at Waitangi treaty grounds,[11] the site of Waitangi Day celebrations.

On 18 November 1982, a suicide bomb attack was made against a facility housing the main computer system of the New Zealand Police, Courts, Ministry of Transport and other law enforcement agencies, in Wanganui. The attacker, a "punk rock" anarchist named Neil Roberts, was the only person killed, and the computer system was undamaged.[14][15]

Wellington Trades Hall

On 29 March 1984, a suitcase bomb was left in the foyer of the Trades Hall in Wellington.[16] The Trades Hall was the headquarters of a number of trade unions and it is most commonly assumed that unions were the target of the bombing.[11] Ernie Abbott, the building's caretaker, was killed when he attempted to move the suitcase, which is believed to have contained three sticks of gelignite triggered by a mercury switch. To this day, the perpetrator has never been identified.[17] It was revealed in a 2019 episode of Cold Case that police had a prime suspect, a retired marine engineer with explosives expertise and anti-union attitudes; however the evidence was considered circumstantial and insufficient to lay charges.[18]

On 10 July 1985, the Greenpeace vessel Rainbow Warrior was sunk by the French foreign intelligence service, the Direction Générale de la Sécurité Extérieure (DGSE). Greenpeace had planned to use the Rainbow Warrior as part of protest efforts over French nuclear testing at Moruroa, and DGSE divers sank the vessel by detonating mines against its hull while it was berthed in Auckland. The crew left the ship, but one person, Fernando Pereira, was drowned when he returned to a cabin to retrieve his cameras, just before the vessel sank.[19]

France initially denied responsibility for the attack, but later admitted its role.[19] Two of the French agents involved in the attack were arrested, convicted, and jailed, while several others escaped. French defence minister Charles Hernu eventually resigned over the affair.[19] Prime Minister David Lange later referred to the sinking as "a sordid act of international state-backed terrorism."[20][21]

Women leaving flowers for mosque shooting victims

On 15 March 2019, Al Noor Mosque and Linwood Islamic Centre in Christchurch were attacked by a gunman. The shootings killed 51 people and injured 40 others,[22][23][24] making this the deadliest mass shooting in New Zealand history.[25] Two improvised explosive devices were found attached to a car and were subsequently disabled.[26][27][28] A 28-year-old Australian man named Brenton Tarrant was arrested and charged with murder and engaging in a terrorist act.[29] Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern described the shootings as a terrorist attack.[30] Tarrant was later sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole in August 2020.

Seventeen people were arrested in co-ordinated raids on 15 October 2007 by Police Armed Offenders Squads and Special Tactics Group. Those arrested included environmental activists and Māori separatists, including noted activist Tame Iti, but the raids also included roadblocks in the Urewera area by armed police who searched and questioned everyone who passed through.[33][34]

After lengthy legal proceedings, none of those arrested were convicted of anything more serious than violation of gun license rules under the Arms Act. Although the search warrants used indicated that terrorism related offences were involved, no charges were laid under the 2002 Terrorism Suppression Act—with the Solicitor-General describing the legislation as "complex and incoherent".[35] Major amendments to the Act were being pushed through Parliament at the time of the raids, as well as legislation creating the charge of "participation in an organised criminal group", justified as necessary to address gang violence, a charge which was unsuccessfully applied to four of those arrested.[36]