Editorial | Even New Zealand must be eternally vigilant

The Christchurch mosque massacre gunman has become the first person in New Zealand given the maximum sentence of life without the possibility of parole. While the tragedy brought about changes to gun laws and a buy-back, firearms remain embedded in an outdoors society that has one registered rifle for every four people

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Victims and relatives embrace as they wait to enter the Christchurch High Court for the final day in the sentencing hearing for Australian Brenton Harrison Tarrant. Photo: AP

Published: 11:22pm, 29 Aug 2020Updated: 11:29pm, 29 Aug 2020

Only twice before in New Zealand have prosecutors asked courts to lock someone up and throw away the key. The judges refused both times, declining to rule out rehabilitation of a double child-killer and a double woman-killer. On Thursday, a High Court justice could not find even that faint prospect of redemption for the Christchurch mosque killer.

Australian Brenton Tarrant, 29, became the first person in New Zealand given the maximum sentence of life without the possibility of parole for the shooting killings of 51 Muslim worshippers in long-planned attacks in two mosques. The country may pride itself on being tolerant, open and multiracial, but any lesser sentence, such as the remotest prospect Tarrant would ever walk free, would have sparked national uproar.

The inhuman cruelty of the atrocity united New Zealand behind shared values. The evil ideology revealed in Tarrant’s white supremacist manifesto alerted people everywhere to the threat of the global spread of right-wing nationalism and extremism.

Tarrant’s deadly rampage culminated in a four-day sentencing hearing in which 90 witnesses gave harrowing accounts. The process resonated with the rallying call for solidarity against bigotry and racism that followed the killings. High Court Justice Cameron Mander and Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern spoke for the nation and people everywhere.

“Your crimes are so wicked that even if you are detained until you die it will not exhaust the requirements of punishment and denunciation,” Mander told Tarrant. Ardern said Tarrant deserved a lifetime of “complete and utter silence”.