Terrorism in New Zealand
Encyclopedia
Terrorism
in New Zealand
is relatively uncommon, although a small number of cases exist.
stated in its 2006 report that "the risk of a terrorist attack on New Zealand or New Zealand interests is low", but also warned against complacency. It has stated that there are individuals in New Zealand linked to international terrorism, although some have dismissed these claims. One of the best known individuals accused (controversially) of being a threat to New Zealand is Ahmed Zaoui
. In another case, a man named Rayed Mohammed Abdullah Ali
was deported from New Zealand after being linked to the hijacker of American Airlines Flight 77
which hit the Pentagon on September 11, 2001.
but in New Zealand it is defined by the Terrorism Suppression Act 2002
.
a rail bridge was blown up near Huntly
. The train drivers were warned in advance and the bombing severely disrupted coal supplies. Sidney Holland
, the Prime Minister of the time, called it an "infamous act of terrorism".
of the New Zealand Police
in Wanganui
. The attacker, a "punk rock" anarchist
named Neil Roberts
, was the only person killed, and the computer system was undamaged.
was left in the foyer of the Trades Hall in Wellington. The Trades Hall was the headquarters of a number of trade union
s, and it is most commonly assumed that they were the target of the bombing, although other theories have been put forward. Ernie Abbott, the building's caretaker, was killed when he attempted to move the suitcase, which is believed to have contained three sticks of gelignite
triggered by a mercury switch
. To this day, the perpetrator has never been identified. Those elements of the New Zealand Police responsible for preventing and investigating such crimes were headquartered in the building across the street.
vessel Rainbow Warrior
by the French foreign intelligence service, the Direction Générale de la Sécurité Extérieure
(DGSE), in 1985. Greenpeace had planned to use the Rainbow Warrior as part of protest efforts over French nuclear testing at Moruroa
, and DGSE divers sank the vessel by detonating mines against its hull while it was berthed in Auckland
. The crew left the ship, but one person, Fernando Pereira
, was drowned when he returned to the vessel to retrieve his cameras, just before it sank. Technically an act of sabotage, the bombing has often been inaccurately described as the only act of international terrorism in New Zealand.
France initially denied responsibility for the attacks, but later admitted its role. Two of the French agents involved in the attack were arrested, convicted, and jailed, while several others escaped. French defence minister Charles Hernu
eventually resigned over the affair.
. None of the people arrested were charged with terrorism related offense, although several were charged with firearm offenses.
(who have responsibility for direct action) and the SIS
(who have responsibility for providing information on which action can be based). The counter-terrorism capabilities of the Police have been expanded in response to the September 11 attacks
in the United States, and counter-terrorism also takes up a significant proportion of the SIS's budget. Some observers have argued, however, that New Zealand "already had in place a very comprehensive set of counter-measures" before that point.
Terrorism
Terrorism is the systematic use of terror, especially as a means of coercion. In the international community, however, terrorism has no universally agreed, legally binding, criminal law definition...
in New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
is relatively uncommon, although a small number of cases exist.
Level of threat
The Security Intelligence ServiceNew Zealand Security Intelligence Service
The New Zealand Security Intelligence Service is an intelligence agency of the New Zealand government.-Purpose:As a civilian organisation, the Security Intelligence Service takes no part in the enforcement of security...
stated in its 2006 report that "the risk of a terrorist attack on New Zealand or New Zealand interests is low", but also warned against complacency. It has stated that there are individuals in New Zealand linked to international terrorism, although some have dismissed these claims. One of the best known individuals accused (controversially) of being a threat to New Zealand is Ahmed Zaoui
Ahmed Zaoui
Ahmed Zaoui is an Algerian member of the Islamic Salvation Front. He arrived in New Zealand on 4 December 2002 where he sought refugee status. Objections from the Security Intelligence Service were withdrawn in September 2007, allowing him to remain in New Zealand.-Pre 1991:Ahmed Zaoui was born as...
. In another case, a man named Rayed Mohammed Abdullah Ali
Rayed Mohammed Abdullah Ali
Rayed Mohammed Abdullah Ali is a Saudi Arabian student pilot who was deported from New Zealand in 2006 for having links with at least one of the September 11, 2001 attacks hijackers. Ali entered New Zealand in February 2006 on a student visa, saying his dream was to become a commercial airline...
was deported from New Zealand after being linked to the hijacker of American Airlines Flight 77
American Airlines Flight 77
American Airlines Flight 77 was American Airlines' daily scheduled morning transcontinental flight, from Washington Dulles International Airport, in Dulles, Virginia to Los Angeles International Airport in Los Angeles, California...
which hit the Pentagon on September 11, 2001.
Acts of terrorism
There is no internationally agreed definition of terrorismDefinition of terrorism
There is neither an academic nor an international legal consensus regarding the proper definition of the word "terrorism". Various legal systems and government agencies use different definitions of "terrorism". Moreover, the international community has been slow to formulate a universally agreed...
but in New Zealand it is defined by the Terrorism Suppression Act 2002
Terrorism Suppression Act 2002
The Terrorism Suppression Act 2002 is a piece of anti-terrorism legislation from New Zealand.In the first test of the Act, during the 2007 New Zealand anti-terror raids, the Solicitor-General declined to press charges under it, because the legislation was too complex. It was amended in late 2007....
.
Rail bridge bombing
On April 30, during the 1951 New Zealand waterfront dispute1951 New Zealand waterfront dispute
The 1951 New Zealand waterfront dispute was the largest and most widespread industrial dispute in New Zealand history. During the time, up to twenty thousand workers went on strike in support of waterfront workers protesting financial hardships and working conditions. Thousands more refused to...
a rail bridge was blown up near Huntly
Huntly, New Zealand
Huntly is a town in the Waikato region of the North Island of New Zealand. It is on State Highway 1, 93 kilometres south of Auckland and 35 kilometres north of Hamilton. It is situated on the North Island Main Trunk Railway and straddles the Waikato River.Huntly was called Rahui Pokeka when...
. The train drivers were warned in advance and the bombing severely disrupted coal supplies. Sidney Holland
Sidney Holland
Sir Sidney George Holland, GCMG, CH was the 25th Prime Minister of New Zealand from 13 December 1949 to 20 September 1957.-Early life:...
, the Prime Minister of the time, called it an "infamous act of terrorism".
Police database bombing
On 18 November 1982, a suicide bomb attack was made against a facility housing the main computer databaseNational Law Enforcement System
The National Law Enforcement System, better known as the Wanganui Computer, was a database set up in 1976 by the State Services Commission in Wanganui, New Zealand...
of the New Zealand Police
New Zealand Police
The New Zealand Police is the national police force of New Zealand, responsible for enforcing criminal law, enhancing public safety, maintaining order and keeping the peace throughout New Zealand...
in Wanganui
Wanganui
Whanganui , also spelled Wanganui, is an urban area and district on the west coast of the North Island of New Zealand. It is part of the Manawatu-Wanganui region....
. The attacker, a "punk rock" anarchist
Anarchism
Anarchism is generally defined as the political philosophy which holds the state to be undesirable, unnecessary, and harmful, or alternatively as opposing authority in the conduct of human relations...
named Neil Roberts
Neil Roberts (anarchist)
On 18 November 1982, a suicide bomb attack was made against a facility housing the main computer database of the New Zealand Police in Wanganui. The attacker, a "punk rock" anarchist named Neil Roberts, was the only person killed, and the computer system was undamaged.Neil spraypainted a slogan...
, was the only person killed, and the computer system was undamaged.
Wellington Trades Hall bombing
On 27 March 1984, a suitcase bombSuitcase bomb
A suitcase nuke is a tactical nuclear weapon which uses, or is portable enough that it could use, a suitcase as its delivery method. Synonyms include suitcase bomb, backpack nuke, mini-nuke, pocket nuke and snuke....
was left in the foyer of the Trades Hall in Wellington. The Trades Hall was the headquarters of a number of trade union
Trade union
A trade union, trades union or labor union is an organization of workers that have banded together to achieve common goals such as better working conditions. The trade union, through its leadership, bargains with the employer on behalf of union members and negotiates labour contracts with...
s, and it is most commonly assumed that they were the target of the bombing, although other theories have been put forward. Ernie Abbott, the building's caretaker, was killed when he attempted to move the suitcase, which is believed to have contained three sticks of gelignite
Gelignite
Gelignite, also known as blasting gelatin or simply jelly, is an explosive material consisting of collodion-cotton dissolved in either nitroglycerine or nitroglycol and mixed with wood pulp and saltpetre .It was invented in 1875 by Alfred Nobel, who had earlier invented dynamite...
triggered by a mercury switch
Mercury switch
A mercury switch is a switch whose purpose is to allow or interrupt the flow of electric current in an electrical circuit in a manner that is dependent on the switch's physical position or alignment relative to the direction of the "pull" of earth's gravity, or other inertia.Mercury switches...
. To this day, the perpetrator has never been identified. Those elements of the New Zealand Police responsible for preventing and investigating such crimes were headquartered in the building across the street.
Rainbow Warrior bombing
Perhaps the best known attack in New Zealand which is often described as an act of terrorism was the sinking of the GreenpeaceGreenpeace
Greenpeace is a non-governmental environmental organization with offices in over forty countries and with an international coordinating body in Amsterdam, The Netherlands...
vessel Rainbow Warrior
Rainbow Warrior (1978)
The Rainbow Warrior was a former UK Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food trawler later purchased by the environmental organisation Greenpeace...
by the French foreign intelligence service, the Direction Générale de la Sécurité Extérieure
Direction générale de la sécurité extérieure
The General Directorate for External Security is France's external intelligence agency. Operating under the direction of the French ministry of defence, the agency works alongside the DCRI in providing intelligence and national security, notably by performing paramilitary and counterintelligence...
(DGSE), in 1985. Greenpeace had planned to use the Rainbow Warrior as part of protest efforts over French nuclear testing at Moruroa
Moruroa
Moruroa , also historically known as Aopuni, is an atoll which forms part of the Tuamotu Archipelago in French Polynesia in the southern Pacific Ocean...
, and DGSE divers sank the vessel by detonating mines against its hull while it was berthed in Auckland
Auckland
The Auckland metropolitan area , in the North Island of New Zealand, is the largest and most populous urban area in the country with residents, percent of the country's population. Auckland also has the largest Polynesian population of any city in the world...
. The crew left the ship, but one person, Fernando Pereira
Fernando Pereira
Fernando Pereira was a freelance Dutch photographer, of Portuguese origin, who drowned when French intelligence used two underwater mines to sink the ship Rainbow Warrior, owned by the environmental organisation Greenpeace on July 10, 1985 .The bombing of the boat had been designed to make the ship...
, was drowned when he returned to the vessel to retrieve his cameras, just before it sank. Technically an act of sabotage, the bombing has often been inaccurately described as the only act of international terrorism in New Zealand.
France initially denied responsibility for the attacks, but later admitted its role. Two of the French agents involved in the attack were arrested, convicted, and jailed, while several others escaped. French defence minister Charles Hernu
Charles Hernu
Charles Hernu was a French socialist politician, most notably serving as Minister of Defence from 1981 to 1985, until forced to resign over the bombing of the Greenpeace ship Rainbow Warrior in New Zealand.-Biography:In 1946, Hernu studied at the Catholic University of Leuven in Belgium where he...
eventually resigned over the affair.
2007 anti-terror raids
Seventeen people were arrested in anti-terror raids on October 15, 2007, after hunters claimed to have come across secret training camps in the Urewera mountains, modeled on terrorist training camps. These raids targeted environmental activists, Māori separatists and other individuals. Among those arrested was noted activist Tame ItiTame Iti
Tāme Wairere Iti has become well known in New Zealand as a Tūhoe Māori activist.- Early life :Born on a train near Rotorua, Tame Iti grew up with his grandparents in the custom known as whāngai on a farm near Ruatoki in the Urewera area of New Zealand...
. None of the people arrested were charged with terrorism related offense, although several were charged with firearm offenses.
Counter-terrorism
The principal government agencies responsible for countering the threat of terrorism are the New Zealand PoliceNew Zealand Police
The New Zealand Police is the national police force of New Zealand, responsible for enforcing criminal law, enhancing public safety, maintaining order and keeping the peace throughout New Zealand...
(who have responsibility for direct action) and the SIS
New Zealand Security Intelligence Service
The New Zealand Security Intelligence Service is an intelligence agency of the New Zealand government.-Purpose:As a civilian organisation, the Security Intelligence Service takes no part in the enforcement of security...
(who have responsibility for providing information on which action can be based). The counter-terrorism capabilities of the Police have been expanded in response to the September 11 attacks
September 11, 2001 attacks
The September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks (also referred to as September 11, September 11th or 9/119/11 is pronounced "nine eleven". The slash is not part of the pronunciation...
in the United States, and counter-terrorism also takes up a significant proportion of the SIS's budget. Some observers have argued, however, that New Zealand "already had in place a very comprehensive set of counter-measures" before that point.