The Christchurch mosque killer is unlikely to be returned to his homeland of Australia, according to Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern. Photo / Alan Gibson
The Christchurch mosque killer is unlikely to be returned to his homeland of Australia, according to Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern. Photo / Alan Gibson
The Christchurch mosque killer is unlikely to be returned to his homeland of Australia, according to Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern.
She told Sky News today that while talks aren't yet over, "early suggestions are that [victims'] families wish to see that sentence served here".
Brenton Harrison Tarrant, the 29-year-old Australian mass murderer, was sentenced to life imprisonment without parole - the first time in New Zealand's history the sentence has been imposed – in August.
Since his sentencing, it's been hotly-debated over whether Tarrant could ever conceivably be deported back to his native Australia.
Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters has called for the "depraved" March 15, 2019 mosque gunman, who killed 51 people, to be extradited to avoid New Zealand paying to keep him locked up for life.
Mosque shooting survivor Abdul Aziz is held aloft as he thanks supporters outside the Christchurch High Court after Tarrant's sentencing to life imprisonment without parole. Photo / AP
Peters said it was time "for Australia's Minister of Home Affairs, Peter Dutton, to receive and carry out the terrorist's sentence in Australia".
But Justice Minister Andrew Little has previously said a new law would have to be passed to deport Tarrant.
"It's automatic if you're a non-citizen or non-resident. Any other way would have to be by agreement of treaty with the country of origin, and we don't have that with Australia," Little said just after the gunman's sentencing.
"Our Corrections system is now obliged to detain him for life."
National leader Judith Collins was wary of deporting Tarrant, partly because Australians seemed keen to deport Kiwis who were midway through their sentence.
"That would mean New Zealand would either have a whole lot of criminals who have not served their sentences wandering around the communities, or else we'd have to find jail space for them," Collins said earlier.
Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison has left the door open to working with New Zealand on the issue.
If Tarrant was shipped back to Australia, the most likely prison to take him would be Goulburn Supermax in regional New South Wales.
Tarrant sat silent throughout the four-day sentencing this week, the victims and their families of his attack, stood strong and unleashed their feelings towards him.
Justice Cameron Mander concluded that Tarrant was "empty of any empathy" for his victims, "detached", and entirely self-centred.
Brenton Tarrant in the Christchurch High Court. Photo / Pool
He said Tarrant had "no apparent mental orders or psychiatric conditions" nor were any cognitive disorders present.
There was no evidence of a personality disorder – but his racist beliefs "developed and intensified" as he got older.
A psychologist said Tarrant "proudly" saw himself as a white European with an air of superiority and grandiosity - which may reflect narcissistic traits.
He also told the psychologist that he no longer holds the beliefs – that they were "not real" and at the time of the attack he was in a "poisoned mental state" and was "terribly unhappy".
He was "ostracised" by society and "wanted to damage society as act of revenge".
Tarrant told the psychologist he "wasn't thinking right at the time" and was "acting on delusional beliefs".
However Justice Mander said that simply did not wash with him.
"Your recent self-generated denunciation of your extreme ideology requires circumspection," he said.
"It's uncorroborated, self-serving and a relatively recent phenomenon."
