Something the Prime Minister said on Friday has been gnawing at me. For the most part, his statements in the immediate aftermath of the obscenity in New Zealand were admirably clear. He identified the victims: those of Islamic faith. He also clearly labelled the attack for what it was, a “vicious and callous right-wing extremist attack”. If those seem like low bars, remember that Malcolm Turnbull’s first public statement after the Orlando killings failed to mention gay people, and that after a woman was killed in Charlottesville, Donald Trump was determined to argue that far-right protesters were “not all” neo-Nazis. The days of taking political clarity for granted are, sadly, long gone. But another of the Prime Minister’s comments warrants attention. Speaking of the Australian gunman, he said: “These people don't deserve names. Names imply some sort of humanity and I struggle to find how anyone who would engage in this sort of behaviour and violence … He’s not human. He doesn't deserve a name." I can well understand Morrison’s reaction. Watching him respond, it was clear he was moved, and disgusted. And of course I share that disgust.<doc-sep>WELLINGTON (Reuters) - The calm and compassion shown by New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern in response to the killing of 50 Muslims by a suspected white supremacist has burnished the credentials of a leader whose youth and celebrity had given critics’ doubts. New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern speaks to representatives of the Muslim community at Canterbury refugee centre in Christchurch, New Zealand March 16, 2019. New Zealand Prime Minister's Office/Handout via REUTERS In the hours after the carnage in Christchurch on Friday left New Zealanders reeling, the 38-year-old Ardern struck all the right notes. She promptly labeled the worst peacetime mass killing in New Zealand as terrorism, and set about reassuring a nation that has been largely unscathed by the violence and fears that have afflicted other countries in the past two decades. A day after the attack, Ardern led a multi-party group to visit grieving families and Muslim community members. Wearing a black head scarf, she hugged relatives and let them set the pace and agenda as she listened and offered comfort. “The prime minister, when she came wearing her scarf, that was big for us,” said Dalia Mohamed, who was mourning Hussein Mustafa, the father-in-law of her daughter and a volunteer at the Al Noor mosque where more than 40 people died. Ardern also promptly made tightening gun laws, which may prove politically difficult, a priority for her government. “Ardern’s performance has been extraordinary - and I believe she will be strongly lauded for it both domestically and internationally,” said political commentator Bryce Edwards of Victoria University in Wellington. Ardern burst into prominence during New Zealand’s 2017 election, feted globally as part of a new wave of progressive, young leaders that included France’s Emmanuel Macron and Canada’s Justin Trudeau. Ardern’s pregnancy, maternity leave and the birth of her daughter while in office also set her apart, with many people seeing it as symbolizing progress for women in leadership roles. Pakistan’s Benazir Bhutto, in 1990, is the only other government leader to have given birth in office. Appearing on U.S. talk shows and taking her infant daughter onto the floor of the United Nations last year boosted her popularity. Ardern’s stratospheric rise to become the country’s youngest prime minister and third woman to hold the office resulted in New Zealanders coining the phrase “Jacinda-mania.” But there were nagging doubts about whether her celebrity masked a lack of substance or steel. And as Ardern completed one year in office in October, political commentators credited her with moving the politics of government to the left. But they also noted that little had been accomplished, and called out Ardern for pulling her punches and making slow progress. They also criticized her handling of the economy as business confidence has sunk to its lowest in a decade after she restricted foreign property ownership and hiked minimum wages. Her government has also faced massive strikes by primary school teachers, nurses and bus drivers demanding wage hikes, with no solution in sight. But the tragedy of Christchurch gave Ardern an opportunity to tell New Zealanders what their country stands for, to dismiss any sense of self-doubt. She said the attack had not happened because their country was a safe harbor for hate, or racism or extremism. “We were chosen for the very fact that we are none of those things,” she said in a national address during which her voice cracked with emotion at times. “Because we represent diversity, kindness, compassion. A home for those who share our values. Refuge for those who needs it. And those values will not and cannot be shaken by this attack,” she said. “You may have chosen us - we utterly reject and condemn you.” And there was what some have seen as a polite rebuke of U.S. President Donald Trump, who said he did not see a rise in white nationalism although it may have been an issue in New Zealand. Ardern said Trump had called to offer his condolences and asked what support the United States could offer New Zealand. “My message was: ‘Sympathy and love for all Muslim communities,” she said adding she thought it was the sentiment that existed in the country. “Can we just acknowledge with open hearts and clear heads that @jacindaardern has done an extraordinary job representing our nation, our pain and our resolve,” prominent journalist and television news presenter Eric Young said in a Twitter post. “I wish with everything in my heart she hadn’t had to, but I am proud that she did.”<doc-sep>New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern was the first signatory of a national condolence book opened in Wellington on Monday for those killed in the Christchurch mosque shootings. Key points: Ms Ardern wrote that all New Zealanders were "grieving together" after the attack Ms Ardern wrote that all New Zealanders were "grieving together" after the attack Police were out in force on Monday to assure Christchurch residents of their safety Police were out in force on Monday to assure Christchurch residents of their safety Maori leaders held a cleansing ceremony outside the Linwood Mosque, as frustration grew regarding burial procedures "On behalf of all New Zealanders, we grieve together. We are one. They are us," she wrote in the book. Loading The shock of the attacks has led to calls for an immediate tightening of laws to restrict access to some firearms, particularly semi-automatic weapons such as the AR-15 rifle used by the shooter in Christchurch. "What the public rightly are asking right now is why is it and how is it that you are currently able to buy military style semi-automatic weapons in New Zealand, and that's the right question to ask," Ms Ardern told TVNZ earlier on Monday. "There are ways we can bring in affective regulation of firearms that actually target those we need to target, and that is our focus." Police were out in force on Monday to assure Christchurch residents of their safety as they returned to their weekday lives, after a lockdown affected parts of the city on Friday after the shootings. Police said the airport in the southern city of Dunedin, had been reopened early on Monday after a suspicious item found on the airfield turned out to be a hoax object. Meanwhile, counter-terrorism police have searched two houses on the NSW mid-north coast as part of their investigations into the shootings, including the home of the sister of accused gunman Brenton Tarrant. Procedure stalls burials Local Christian leaders joined members of Christchurch's Muslim community to support them during the ceremony. ( ABC News: Brendan Esposito Local Maori leaders held a cleansing ceremony outside the Linwood Mosque in Christchurch where eight people were killed on Friday. The ceremony was performed to cleanse the building of evil spirits, although the mosque is still a crime scene so they were not allowed to do it inside. Local Christian leaders joined members of Christchurch's Muslim community to support them during the ceremony. The cleansing ceremony was held outside the Linwood Mosque as investigations continue. ( ABC News: Brendan Esposito Frustration was building among the families of victims as under Islam it is custom to conduct burials within 24 hours, but bodies will not be released until post mortem examinations are carried out. The burial process, which usually involves washing with three kinds of water, salving wounds and scrubbing skin, would be complicated, volunteers in Christchurch said. A solemn crowd gathered outside the Linwood Mosque for the cleansing ceremony. ( ABC News: Brendan Esposito Mo, a volunteer who had flown in from Brisbane to wash the bodies, said the people who died in the mosques were classified as martyrs. He said that meant there were different views as to whether they would be washed or not because Islamic jurisprudence said martyrs were not to be washed as their blood was witness to their martyrdom. "But some people have said because it was not a battlefield it is OK to wash the body. But it is at the discretion of the family," said Mo, who asked to be identified by just one name. People gathered to view the cleansing ceremony as residents returned to their weekday lives. ( ABC News: Brendan Esposito ABC/Reuters<doc-sep>Police in New Zealand said on Sunday that the right-wing terrorist behind a massacre at two mosques in Christchurch was acting alone, as it emerged the killer's manifesto had been sent to the country's prime minister minutes before the tragedy unfolded. Australian Brenton Tarrant, 28, sent a racist, rambling manifesto to prime minister Jacinda Ardern in which he denied being linked to any organisations and said he was acting on his own. The document, which praised President Donald Trump and Norwegian mass killer Anders Breivik, was emailed to Ms Ardern's office just 9 minutes before the attack began. However, a senior White House official said it was unfair to cast the shooter as a supporter of President Trump based on one reference to him in the manifesto. Acting chief of staff Mick Mulvaney told "Fox News Sunday" that the shooter was a "disturbed individual" and an "evil person." Mr Mulvaney said attempts to tie the shooter to any American politician "probably ignores some of the deeper difficulties that this sort of activity exposes." It came as a man whose wife was killed in the attack as she rushed back into a mosque to rescue him said he harbours no hatred toward the gunman, insisting forgiveness is the best path forward. "I would say to him 'I love him as a person'," said Farid Ahmad, whose wife Husna Ahmad, 44, was killed at the Al Noor mosque - the first of two targeted by the gunman. "I could not accept what he did. What he did was a wrong thing," he added.<doc-sep>
CHRISTCHURCH, New Zealand — The New Zealand leader’s promise of tightened gun laws in the wake of the Christchurch mosque shootings has been widely welcomed by a stunned population. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said her Cabinet will consider the details of the changes on Monday. She has said options include a ban on private ownership of semi-automatic rifles that were used with devastating effect in Christchurch and a government-funded buyback of newly outlawed guns. While curtailing gun owners’ rights is a political battleground in the United States, Christchurch gun owner Max Roberts, 22, predicted Ardern won’t face serious opposition to her agenda. “There will be no opposition to it. There’s no movement in New Zealand for that. Our media and politics are more left wing,” said Roberts, a carpenter who uses guns for hunting. Elliot Dawson, who survived the shooting at Christchurch’s Linwood mosque by hiding in a bathroom, hopes New Zealand follows Australia’s lead on gun control. In Australia, a virtual ban on private ownership of semi-automatic rifles and a government-funded gun buyback cut the size of the country’s civilian arsenal by almost a third. The ban followed a 1996 massacre in which a lone gunman used assault rifles to kill 35 people in Tasmania state in 1996. “Personally, I don’t think guns should be legal at all. Maybe in some extreme self-defense, but I don’t think they need such firearms like that,” Dawson said. “New Zealand is not America. America is a totally different situation. I think in America it would be probably more dangerous to take people’s guns away. But here, I don’t think we need them at all.” Akshesh Sharma moved to Christchurch from Fiji to study. He was shocked that the shooter was able to get his hands on such military-style weapons. Sharma agrees with the prime minister that gun laws need to be tightened. “I don’t see this as a place where you need guns to live to feel safe,” Sharma said. “I can understand in the U.S. maybe, but here it’s a different story.” Roberts, the gun owner, doubted banning certain types of weapons would be effective. But he said New Zealand should only allow its own citizens to buy guns. Brenton Harrison Tarrant, the Australian charged in the Christchurch shootings, obtained a New Zealand gun license in November 2017 and started legally amassing an arsenal of five guns within a month. “I think when people harbor hate like, that these things are possible,” Roberts said. “Particularly Australian citizens, I don’t understand how they can get access to firearms in New Zealand when New Zealand citizens can’t get access to firearms in Australia,” he added. Ian Britton uses a rifle for shooting rabbits and target shooting. He favors outlawing assault rifles like those used in Christchurch because they’re unnecessary. “I can’t use the words I’d like to use, but it’s disgusting. I never thought I’d see that in this country,” Britton said. Ardern noted that attempts to reform had failed before under pressure from the gun lobby. “There have been attempts to change our laws in 2005, 2012 and after an inquiry in 2017. Now is the time for change,” she said. New Zealand was represented at a meeting of Australian police ministers on May 10, 1996, two weeks after the Tasmanian massacre, where it was agreed that semi-automatic long arms would be banned except for use by licensed professional shooters. New Zealand’s unique relationship with Australia, its nearest neighbor, is close to that of a state. New Zealand was the only one of nine jurisdictions at the meeting to reject the deal. Philip Alpers, a Sydney University gun policy analyst, said New Zealand had rejected the most important reform among a raft of gun restrictions that halved Australia’s gun death rate. If New Zealand “hadn’t been the exception on that day and done what Australia did, this wouldn’t have happened,” Alpers said, referring to the massacre. • Associated Press writer Rod McGuirk in Canberra, Australia, contributed to this report. Sign up for Daily Newsletters Manage Newsletters Copyright © 2021 The Washington Times, LLC.