Of course there should be an inquiry

TVNZ reports:

National Leader Judith Collins has written to the prime minister calling for a public inquiry into the terrorist attack at Countdown Lynnmall on Friday.

Collins said both the attack on Friday and those of Christchurch in March 2019 had left questions of what opportunities the Government had to stop the attacks from taking place.

She claimed little had been done to advance the Royal Commission’s recommendations from its inquiry into the events of March 2019. 

Collins also claimed no work has been done on establishing a Counter-Terrorism Agency, which was a key recommendation of the Royal Commission.

“It is evident that we have a lot more work to do as a Parliament to make New Zealand safer,” Collins said.

She also said the attack on Friday had highlighted some vulnerabilities in our Immigration and Counter-Terrorism law. 

As a result of Friday’s attack, Collins admitted National needed to step up its own work in the area.

It has appointed its MP Mark Mitchell as its Counter-Terrorism spokesperson.

He will also take on the responsibility of shadowing Minister Andrew Little in his role as the minister in charge of the Royal Commission.

Collins said Mitchell had been appointed due to his 14 years in the police force, 11 of which was spent on specialist squads. 

He also has experience in overseas conflict zones. 

“I am confident that Mark’s expertise will be an asset to New Zealand as he leads the work we have committed to doing in working with the Government to better protect New Zealand from terrorism,” Collins said.

Of course there should be an inquiry into the terrorist attack. Seven people were wounded by someone known to be a danger. This is not to say anyone is to blame but the terrorist, but we owe it to look at what more could have been done in this case, and any desirable changes to future cases.

I’d rather the Government announces a couple of independent Commissioners to do the inquiry, than rush through law changes in advance.