Questions asked by the community about experience of staff

17.9 Experience of staff

How many full-time equivalent staff were dedicated to white supremacy and right-wing extremism compared to Islamist extremism in the 10 years before 15 March 2019?

No individual staff or teams across the counter-terrorism effort were solely focused on understanding and responding to the threat of right-wing extremism - they were also focused on Islamist extremist threats or other non-Islamist extremist threats.

Combined Threat Assessment Group

Before 15 March 2019 the Combined Threat Assessment Group generally had a full-time equivalent staff of five to seven analysts, each of whom worked on a range of terrorism threats. No analyst worked exclusively on the threat of right-wing extremism.

Government Communications Security Bureau

Approximate intelligence staff numbers (including graduates) dedicated to domestic counter-terrorism at the Government Communications Security Bureau²⁴² in recent years were two in 2015, four in 2016 (increased by graduates), two in 2017 and seven in 2018 (see Part 8, chapter 7). None of these staff worked solely on right-wing extremism.

Since 2016, all of the Government Communications Security Bureau’s counter‑terrorism activities have been in response to being tasked by another agency. Before 15 March 2019, the Government Communications Security Bureau was not tasked by any agency to conduct signals intelligence activities in relation to right-wing extremism.

Immigration New Zealand

Immigration New Zealand do not have a dedicated counter-terrorism team and therefore do not have any staff dedicated solely to counter-terrorism.

National Assessments Bureau

The National Assessments Bureau did not have a dedicated terrorism analyst until 2018, when one full-time terrorism analyst position was established. This analyst had responsibility across all terrorist ideologies.

New Zealand Customs Service

New Zealand Customs Service have a counter-terrorism intelligence team. Staff work across a range of threats, and therefore no staff are dedicated solely to the threat of right-wing extremism.

New Zealand Police

There were no staff dedicated solely to right-wing extremism within New Zealand Police. Staff in the National Security Investigations Team and Security and Intelligence Threats Group worked across all national security threats. Some of their time was spent investigating leads related right-wing extremism, however, the majority of staff time was dedicated to Islamist extremism.

New Zealand Security Intelligence Service

As at May 2018, there were three investigative teams in the Counter-Terrorism Unit in the New Zealand Security Intelligence Service, comprising three team managers and 16 investigators. Each of the three teams had responsibility for Islamist extremist threats, and one team also had responsibility for non-Islamist threats. Twenty percent of investigator time was allocated to the baselining and discovery work programme, which included a project on domestic right-wing extremism.

In the years before mid-2018, the Counter-Terrorism Unit resources, as well as those of the collection group (such as surveillance, technical operations and human intelligence), were focused on the presenting threat of Islamist extremist terrorism.

What is the demographic breakdown of New Zealand Security Intelligence Service staff working on countering different forms of terrorism?

Please provide available information on numbers of staff assigned (whether on a full-time or percentage basis), ethnic, religious and gender identities, capabilities and qualifications, and seniority.

The New Zealand Security Intelligence Service does not hold demographic statistics by directorate. This means the demographic breakdown of staff in the Counter-Terrorism Unit is not available.

As at June 2020, 12.1 percent of the New Zealand Security Intelligence Service workforce had an ethnically diverse background,²⁴³ compared to 10.8 percent in June 2019. The New Zealand Security Intelligence Service had a target of having 13 percent of its workforce from ethnically diverse backgrounds by 30 June 2020, which it did not meet primarily because of a high turnover rate among ethnically diverse staff.²⁴⁴

The 2019 Arotake Review found that, although there had been a substantial increase in the number of investigators in the New Zealand Security Intelligence Service in 2018, half of the investigators had less than one year’s experience at the time of the 15 March 2019 terrorist attack.²⁴⁵ The Counter-Terrorism Unit was, however, led by experienced staff.

Did agency staff receive specialist training on white supremacy and right-wing extremism before 15 March 2019?

Government Communications Security Bureau

No. As the Government Communications Security Bureau was not tasked to undertake any work on right-wing extremism before 15 March 2019, staff did not receive any training on this subject matter and their focus remained on Islamist extremism.

New Zealand Customs Service

Yes. Since 2013, frontline New Zealand Customs Service staff have been provided with guidance on recognising the indicators of white supremacy and extremism while processing people at the border. This includes information on New Zealand and international groups of right-wing extremist interest and information on indicators. In 2018 material on right-wing extremism was added to New Zealand Customs Services training material for frontline staff.

New Zealand Police

Yes. The type of training New Zealand Police staff received on white supremacy or right-wing extremism included the following:

All staff had access to an awareness raising video on counter-terrorism which was available from 19 April 2018. This included material related to right-wing extremism.
In 2018, a session on the counter-terrorism environment, issues and challenges was delivered to staff that attended the Serious Crime Course. It included a section on right-wing extremism.
In 2018, a presentation titled Extremist Threatscape was delivered to the Advanced Police Negotiators Training course. It focused predominantly on Islamist extremism, but also had reference to right-wing extremism including in New Zealand.
Specialist national security staff received training primarily through the Australia New Zealand Counter-Terrorism Committee, including on right-wing extremism.

New Zealand Security Intelligence Service

No. The New Zealand Security Intelligence Service told us it does not run or commission training exclusively on white supremacy and right-wing extremism.

Since the commencement of the baselining and discovery work programme in mid-2018, New Zealand Security Intelligence Service staff have engaged with international and domestic partners in relation to a range of extreme ideologies, including right-wing extremism, and indicators of mobilisation to violence.

Have the National Assessments Bureau analysts with regional expertise developed adequate knowledge of nationalist and populist movements including their extremist fringes?

The National Assessments Bureau produced two intelligence assessments related to right-wing extremism between 2010 and 15 March 2019 – one in 2013, and one in 2018.

_{242. This number does not include staff in other areas of the Government Communications Security Bureau whose work may contribute in part to its counter-terrorism activity.}

_{243. This includes people of Māori, Asian, Pacific Island, Middle Eastern, Latin American and African descent.}

_{244. The figures here were provided to the Royal Commission. These figures are different to those listed in Part 9: Social cohesion and embracing diversity, which are sourced from the New Zealand Security Intelligence Service's and the Government Communications Security Bureau’s annual reports. This is because they use different methodologies. The figures in agency annual reports are calculated using the Public Service Commission methodology, which uses the number of people who identify as being a certain ethnic group divided by the number who have provided an ethnic group. Conversely, the figures referenced above are calculated using the number of people who identify as being a certain ethnic group divided by the number of all staff (regardless of whether they list their ethnicity). We use the figures provided to the Royal Commission to answer the question above so that we are able to report on the New Zealand Security Intelligence Service’s progress towards their ethnic diversity target.}

_{245. New Zealand Security Intelligence Service, footnote 57 above at page 59.}