Hon Tracey Martin
Minister of Internal Affairs
13 November 2019
Media Statement
Extension for Royal Commission into Mosque attacks
The Royal Commission into the Attacks on Christchurch Mosques will report back on 30 April 2020 to give it more time to
hear submissions and consider information, Internal Affairs Minister Tracey Martin announced today.
The Royal Commission was originally scheduled to report back to Government by 10 December 2019.
“There has been significant public interest in the work of the Royal Commission, which has received over 1100 public
submissions to date,” the Minister says.
“The Commission requested an extension as it will need considerably more time to fully consider these submissions given
the complexity of information and materials received.
“I was also contacted by the Muslim Community Reference Group and the Federation of Islamic Associations of New Zealand
which both asked for the report back date to be pushed out.”
Extending the report back date required cabinet’s approval as it was a formal change to the Royal Commission’s terms of
reference. Cabinet also approved an additional $3 million for the Royal Commission’s longer timeframe.
“The Christchurch mosques attack is an unprecedented mark in our history,” Mrs Martin says.
“The public, through the Royal Commission, deserves to know what the relevant state sector agencies knew about the
individual’s activities before the attack, what, if anything, they did with that information, what measures agencies
could have taken to prevent the attack, and what measures agencies should take to prevent such attacks in the future.”
ENDS