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Opinion | Far-right extremism still alive in New Zealand, a year after Christchurch mosque attacks
- While police have increased surveillance on extremist groups, there is still a tendency within the country to view the act of terror as a one-off event
- But with 60 to 70 groups still active in New Zealand and far-right extremism growing worldwide, the risk of hate crimes occurring remains
Reading Time:4 minutes
Why you can trust SCMP
In the hours after the Christchurch mosque attacks on March 15 last year, I wrote that I hoped New Zealand would finally stop believing it was immune to far-right extremist violence. Twelve months later, I am not sure enough has changed.
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I’ve researched far-right extremism for decades – and I would argue it remains a high-level threat in New Zealand, not just overseas.
My assessment is that there are about 60 to 70 groups and somewhere between 150 and 300 core right-wing activists in New Zealand.
This sounds modest alongside the estimated 12,000 to 13,000 violent far-right activists in Germany. But proportionate to population size, the numbers are similar for both countries. And it only takes one activist to act out his extremism.
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