Photo: RNZ / Nate McKinnon
Not being able to provide a relative who lived in New Zealand as a referee for a firearms licence application was not a reason disqualify it, an inquest has heard.
The inquest into the Christchurch terror attack where 51 worshippers at Al Noor Mosque and Linwood Islamic Centre were murdered on 15 March 2019 has re-convened for its second phase.
The terrorist's ability to obtain the guns he used in the attack is being examined.
When he applied for his licence in September 2017, the terrorist originally put down his sister as a related referee.
As she resided in Australia, and the policy was to interview referees face-to-face, she was ruled out.
The firearms licensing clerk who processed the terrorist's application told the coroner's court they would have contacted him to notify him his sister was unable to be a referee and asked for the next best person.
In her replacement, the terrorist named a gaming friend, and the second referee was the gaming friend's parent.
Both referees were firearms licence holders who had endorsements to own and possess pistols and military-style semi-automatics.
Deputy chief Coroner Brigitte Windley is overseeing the inquest. Photo: Iain McGregor/The Press/Pool
The court heard on Monday that referees being firearms licence holders was considered "helpful" to the process as they had already been considered "fit and proper" people.
Having such endorsements meant they were even further scrutinised by police, the court heard.
Questioned by lawyers representing families and victims, the firearms licensing clerk was asked if the terrorist's inability to provide a next of kin who lived in New Zealand should have disqualified him from the application process.
The clerk said no.
Not everyone had family available in New Zealand and that was not a reason to stop processing the application, they said.
Their role was to simply get another available person - believed to be the closest person to the applicant - and pass on the details to another staff member who continued the application process.
The clerk said they were unaware of any discretion for conducting interviews of referees overseas as that was never told to them.
However, having both referees related - as was the case for the terrorist's application - was not normal practice.
The clerk said they believe they would have noted that the pair lived at the same address, and passed that information on to a superior who would have made the ultimate decision for if they could both be referees.
The clerk said making sure referees were independent of each other was the biggest reflection they had, as well as asking more thorough questions, rather than taking an applicant's word at face value.
Workload 'insurmountable'
The arms officer who approved the terrorist's firearms licence application told the inquest they faced an often "insurmountable" volume of work and senior police figures did not appreciate the risk of the work of the role.
They said they understood three people now undertook a scaled-back version of the role they held responsibility for in 2017.
The arms officer said they had an incredibly heavy workload and there was a focus on turning around firearms licence applications within 30 days.
They often ignored this, saying it felt "rushed".
Despite the workload expected of them, they said they never received any formal "in-depth" training.
The second phase of the inquest is set down for three weeks, with about 15 witnesses expected to be called.
