The report also reveals that upon arrival in New Zealand,the"single-minded"Tarrant joined a gym to improve his physical fitness and embarked on a steroid regime inspired by the Oslo terrorist gunman Anders Breivik. He was diagnosed with steroid-related health problems by a local doctor.
When his mother and her current partner,who is of Indian ethnicity,visited Tarrant in December 2018,the terrorist refused to have breakfast with them at a migrant-run cafe because he wanted his money to go to white New Zealanders.
Loading
He told both his mother and his sister that he feared his extremist opinions would be picked up by intelligence agencies and even discussed moving to Ukraine to avoid detection.
But his views – sometimes under the name Barry Harry Tarry – were not being monitored. The report found that the country's security agencies were focussed on the Islamic terror threat and put very few resources into watching other extremists.
Tarrant believed he would run out of money by about August 2019 and among the files discovered during the commission was a final planning document,from late January 2019,in which he wrote"15th March is go do rain or shine[sic]".
He also presented to a hospital emergency department in July 2018 with gunshot injuries to his right eye and thigh after a firearms accident at his home in Dunedin,despite his concerns – revealed to commission investigators – that the injuries might have been reported to the police. The doctors believed his claim that he was injured cleaning a shotgun and did not report it.
In spite of these signs,the report found"no single aspect of it could have alerted public sector agencies to an impending terrorist attack"and"the commission found no failures within any government agencies that would have allowed the terrorist's planning and preparation to be detected".
In a pre-recorded speech released with the report,Ardern said the government did"identify many lessons to be learnt in significant areas that require change".
"For many years the Muslim community has raised concerns over the disproportionate scrutiny by security and intelligence agencies. As one member of the community put it to me recently,they could only assume the same level of scrutiny was being applied to those who posed a threat to their security.
"While the commission made no findings that those failings would have stopped the attack,these were failings nonetheless and for that,on behalf of the government,I apologise."
Ardern said her government would accept all 44 recommendations of the report,although plans to toughen the nation's hate speech laws will involve public consultation before the legislation is introduced.
The firearms licensing system will also now be overhauled after the report noted the ease with which Tarrant was able to obtain a gun licence.
While his sister Lauren was rejected as a referee because she couldn't be interviewed in person,police accepted a gaming friend and that friend's parent – whom Tarrant had met only once – to vouch for his character.
On his application form Tarrant claimed he would not be a threat to the safety of others,as"I don't have any enemies".
Muslim groups and some of the victims have criticised aspects of the report,with Temel Atacocugu,who was shot nine times in the Al Noor mosque,saying the police needed to be held accountable.
The commission did not recommend compensation for the families of victims,saying that was outside the scope of their investigation.
The Islamic Women's Council said justice had not been served by the report because of the restricted terms of reference,which limited the evidence the commission could review.
The commission recommended the establishment of a new and well-resourced national intelligence and security agency that will report directly to one minister,as wells as the development of a new strategy to counter terrorism and violent extremism.
Loading
Tarrant is serving life without parole for the massacre – the first time such a sentence has been handed down in New Zealand.
In addition to 51 counts of murder,Tarrant also pleaded guilty to 40 counts of attempted murder and one act of terrorism for his attack on the Al Noor and Linwood mosques in Christchurch.
While former deputy prime Winston Peters has called for Tarrant to serve his sentence in Australia – a proposal Prime Minister Scott Morrison did not reject – it now appears certain the killer will serve his life sentence in a New Zealand jail.