Christchurch mosque shootings: Green MP Golriz Ghahraman says hate speech needs to stop

Green MP Golriz Ghahraman says MPs and breakfast "shock jocks" are among those responsible for the hate speech that led to the mosque shootings.

Ghahraman, who was herself a refugee to New Zealand, used a condolence speech in Parliament this afternoon to criticise her parliamentary colleagues.

"The truth is that this happened here, and it began with hate speech, allowed to spread here online. History has taught us that hate speech is a slippery slope to atrocity," she said.

"The truth is that we as politicians, and I mean on all sides of this House, are also responsible."

"There sit among us those who have for years fanned the flames of division in here and out there. Blamed migrants for our housing crisis.

"There sits among us here [those] who deliberately spread hysteria about the UN Migration Compact," Ghahraman said.

"We've pandered to the gratuitous racism by shock jocks on breakfast shows to raise our own profile," she said.

Ghahraman said the Christchurch mosque gunman's plans for Friday's shootings went unchecked by authorities.

"White supremacy was not seen as a pressing threat, even as some in the Muslim community were.

"Although this man happened to have not been born in New Zealand, we do need to acknowledge the truth that his ideology does exist in pockets here. Our ethnic communities, refugees, and tangata whenua have been telling us this for years. They've been reporting this for years.

"I know it as my daily truth as a politician. I receive all the barrage of hate online. I receive the threats - the death threats, the rape threats, and the threats of gun violence, online.

"Every minority in New Zealand knows this as a little bit of our truth. So now we have to pause and listen."

Ghahraman was among a number of MPs from all sides who continued offering condolences to those affected by last Friday's shootings, in which 50 worshippers were killed at two Christchurch mosques.

Party leaders made their speeches in the House yesterday, led by Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern.

Long-time National MP Gerry Brownlee, the MP for Ilam, told Parliament today there were no more words to be read into the record of the House to express the shock, grief, despair, and anger over the attacks and the "deep warmth, love, and care for the families so profoundly affected".

Brownlee said the grief and expressions of love told him people had not changed that much.

"But I think we have become more aware of our own actions, our own omissions, and our own oversights, and aware too that they are more pronounced at the more unattractive edge of what is us."

Ethnic Communities Minister Jenny Salesa said that responding to the terror attack had highlighted the need for agencies to work more closely together and become responsive to the needs of the country's ethnically diverse communities.

"While Government can and will provide the resources and support required, the responses that we need must be guided by our ethnic communities to ensure that the solutions are fit for purpose and that they are long lasting and enduring.

"We may not have all the answers at hand, but when we listen to our communities and we work together, we will be a step closer to achieving meaningful and enduring change."
Salesa reminded Parliament that tomorrow was Race Relations Day.

"The theme is 'Our people, our cultures, our languages'. The important word here is 'our'."