White Supremacy Research Center Loses Funding

RNZ’s Phil Pennington

The government has stopped funding the country’s leading think tank on violent extremism.

Set up in response to the royal commission of inquiry into the March 15, 2019 Christchurch mosque attacks, which killed 51 people, its short-lived existence has been described as a “broken promise” and a threat to minorities.

Whenua Taurikura Research Center in Wellington received a letter from the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet (DPMC) on Friday saying the funding would end in December. It has been held in trust since 2022.

“Members are disappointed by the government’s sudden change of direction in the name of cost savings,” a fund spokesman told RNZ.

“The $2 million the government would save by cutting this research would almost certainly increase the risk of significant loss of innocent lives in vulnerable communities at the hands of extremists.”

The coalition government has already cut funding for the center by two-thirds, from $1.3 million to $500,000 in the 2024 budget.

While Australia, Britain and Asian countries spend millions on extremist research specific to their countries, New Zealand will be left with nothing, a Muslim community spokesman said.

“This is a completely broken promise from (Prime Minister) Christopher Luxon,” Abdur Razzak said.

The Luxon government and Judith Collins – the minister responsible for the response to the mosque investigation – have promised new approaches and routine funding for responses, but Razzaq said: “Where is the normal funding for this centre?”

Collins declined to answer RNZ’s questions, including whether New Zealand was at risk of losing its understanding of terrorism and extremism, and who could fill the remaining gap.

“Your questions are best directed to DPMC,” her office said.

With a little funding, the center can exist until the middle of next year.

Research gap

A spokesman for the foundation said its demise would “absolutely” leave a gap in research on white extremism.

“We’ll go back to the same research environment that we had before March 15, where all the focus was on Muslims, and what do you know? They are not a problem.”

The idea was that “affected communities are of lower priority than existing government security structures.”

The center was created, with its board of trustees including minority representatives, in response to the royal commission’s call for public funding for independent research into the causes of violent extremism, specifically for New Zealand.

When RNZ reported funding cuts in June, several critics of the center criticized its research as not sufficiently focused on extremism, saying it lacked researchers with expertise in the field.

But Te Herenga Waka-Victoria University in Wellington, which provided the center with offices and administrative services, said in a statement: “Through its excellent research, the center has amplified the voices of communities and groups who have experienced violence, bigotry and harm. “

The trust said it had just completed the establishment phase.

“Stopping these studies is a step backwards, and by reducing the voice of affected communities, we will remove potential barriers to future attacks,” the statement said.

“Without exploring what a peaceful land, he Whenua Taurikura, might look like, we are doomed to repeat the conflict-ridden history that is the result of the security-based paradigm of the past.”

As part of the $500,000 funding, the board of trustees asked the center to administer a research and fellowship program.

But the DPMC concluded it was “not the most effective and efficient use” of limited government funding to obtain quality research from across the country.

“After reviewing options, including those proposed by the board of directors, DPMC has decided to terminate funding…on December 31,” the fund said Friday.

Razzak said the center is special because it is directly linked to the government’s DPMC apparatus, unlike other university-led national security research groups.

“Let’s not forget… one of the things that led to March 15 was the government cutting the gun licensing budget,” he said, adding that those short-sighted terror savings cost us half a billion dollars. attacks on two mosques.

The government previously rejected two recommendations from the royal commission to create an overarching intelligence and security agency and a new system of public reporting on extremism, partly for financial reasons.

RNZ reported in November that the reporting system was in limbo, while the government had been arguing for months that a super agency could be created.

In early August, it announced it would scrap a public reporting system that allows people to alert authorities to troubling behavior that may not be criminal.

This was partly due to “current financial pressures”.

It was also decided that “existing threat reporting channels are sufficient to enable the public to report behavior and incidents”, police said in notes to Police Minister Mark Mitchell provided to RNZ under the Official Information Act.

The 111 and 105 emergency call systems will be improved and police will establish a permanent threat assessment center (FTAC) and a national security persons of interest (POI) structure, the August 1 notes said.

Razzaq said the moves represented a “securitization” of the threat.

Police spent at least $1.5 million on initial work on the business case for a public reporting system.

The unspent portion of the $13.5 million allocated for it was returned to the Crown.

Ministers met for 30 minutes in early May to discuss scrapping not just the system but all eight of the royal commission’s 44 recommendations that have yet to be fully or partially implemented.

On June 17, police told government officials that they would “continue to engage and collaborate with communities to best meet their needs and provide community confidence through visible policing to help people feel safe.” This will also contribute to counter-terrorism efforts.”

But since then police have become less responsive to lower priority calls to 111 and 105.