Editor's note

Kia ora koutou and welcome to The Conversation’s relaunched New Zealand newsletter, which we’ll be sending out again each Wednesday in response to requests from readers like you.

Today, we start with two new stories looking at how the Christchurch terror attack changed New Zealand – and how to keep the country safer in future.

In the hours after the March 15 attack, long-time extremism researcher Paul Spoonley said he hoped New Zealand would finally stop believing it was immune to far-right terrorists.

Today, he warns far-right extremism remains a high-level threat to New Zealand. His expert assessment is that there are between 150 and 300 core right-wing activists in New Zealand – which may not sound like many, but proportionate to population size, it’s similar to Germany.

In the aftermath of the attack, the New Zealand government pushed through new laws banning “military style” and many other semi-automatic firearms, with near-unanimous support in parliament.

But questions are now being raised about the government’s second tranche of gun laws and the effectiveness of its gun buyback scheme. Instead of unifying the country, Samara McPhedran says the government may have sparked divisions by over-reaching.

We’ll have more Christchurch analysis ahead of this weekend’s anniversary – so stay tuned to our Conversation New Zealand page.

If you find this newsletter useful, please consider sharing it with a friend. We’re expanding The Conversation’s New Zealand coverage ahead of this year’s election, which my colleague NZ Editor Veronika Meduna, a soon-to-be-hired second NZ Editor (applications close on Monday), and I will keep you posted about in the months ahead.

Thanks for reading, and for being part of The Conversation.

Liz Minchin

Executive Editor, New Zealand

The Christchurch attacks – one year on
AAP/David Alexander

Far-right extremists still threaten New Zealand, a year on from the Christchurch attacks

Paul Spoonley, Massey University

My assessment is that there are about 150 to 300 core right-wing activists in New Zealand. This might sound modest – but proportionate to population, it's similar to extremist numbers in Germany.
David Alexander/AAP

In an election year, gun reform has become political in New Zealand and Jacinda Ardern is losing her support

Samara McPhedran, Griffith University

Rather than unifying the country, it appears the government's overreach on gun legislation has paved the way for distrust and division.

The Conversation's global COVID-19 coverage

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