17.4 National Assessments Bureau
Did the National Assessments Bureau produce any assessments on global developments and events related to white supremacy and right-wing extremism?
Yes. The National Assessments Bureau produced two intelligence assessments related to right-wing extremism between 2010 and 15 March 2019 (see Part 8, chapter 4):
- A 2013 assessment, titled Far Right Rising: A Dangerous Myth, focused on the changing political landscape in Europe. The assessment noted that far right movements stepped up their anti-immigrant and anti-Muslim rhetoric during the European debt crisis (2009 onwards) but did not cover terrorism and/or violent extremism implications.
- A September 2018 assessment, titled Global Terrorism Update, included a small section on “extreme right terrorism”. It noted that “between 12 September 2001 and 31 December 2016 in the United States of America, there were more extreme-right incidents than Islamist terrorist incidents resulting in fatalities”. It concluded that there had been an emerging threat from extreme right-wing terrorism for some time, but groups were fragmented with limited international coordination.
Was the National Assessments Bureau dissatisfied with the intelligence gathering practices or products of the New Zealand Security Intelligence Service or the Government Communications Security Bureau in relation to white supremacy and right-wing extremism?
We have no indication, or evidence, that this is the case.