Christchurch terrorist Brenton Tarrant could be transferred to Australia to serve his life sentence in a move that would cost Aussie taxpayers millions, Scott Morrison reveals
- Christchurch killer has been jailed for life without parole over terror attack
- NZ officials want the Australian to serve his sentence in his home country
- Prime Minister Scott Morrison said he is open to the possibility of a transfer
Prime Minister Scott Morrison has said he is open to the idea of transferring Christchurch terrorist Brenton Tarrant to Australia.
The killer was on Thursday jailed for life without parole for gunning down 51 worshippers at two mosques last year.
New Zealand Foreign Minister Winston Peters wants Tarrant, who is from New South Wales, to serve his sentence in Australia.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison has said he is open to the idea of transferring Christchurch terrorist Brenton Tarrant (pictured) to Australia
On Friday Mr Morrison said ‘we’re open to that discussion.’
‘I know all Australians and New Zealanders want to see this character locked up to never see the light of day again – I agree with that,’ he told Sunrise.
‘Whether he is held in New Zealand or Australia, we’re open to that discussion.’
There would need to be some changes to legal arrangements between Australia and New Zealand for the transfer to happen because New Zealand is not a signed up to a prisoner transfer deal.
Mr Morrison said he and Ms Ardern would work through the issues involved.
‘It has a lot of implications, these sorts of decisions. The Prime Minister of New Zealand and I will talk about those issues,’ Mr Morrison said.
‘Mostly, we’re concerned about what the views of the families would be, of those affected, and we want to do the right thing by them.’
‘There has been no request made for that (transfer), I should stress.’
Tarrant is an Australian citizen from Grafton in New South Wales, and moved to New Zealand about two years before the terror attack on March 15, 2019.
Manal Dokhan gestures as she gives her victim impact statement during the sentencing hearing for Australian Brenton Tarrant
A survivor of the mosque shooting raises his crutches in the air and celebrates after walking out of the courtroom where Tarrant had just been sentenced to life in prison without possibility of parole
Australian Attorney-General Christian Porter has warned there is no agreement to transfer Tarrant back to home soil.
Mr Porter’s spokesman said the Australian Government can only transfer prisoners from a country which is recognised as a ‘transfer country’ under the ITP Act.
‘New Zealand is not a “transfer country” under the ITP Act as it does not have any agreement or arrangement for prisoner transfers with Australia,’ a spokesman said.
It costs New Zealand NZ$4,930 (AUD$4,512) a day to keep Tarrant locked up at Auckland’s Paremoremo Prison.
Just the first two years of his sentence alone will cost $NZ3.59 million ($A3.33 million).
Mohamed Jama, president of the Muslim Association of Canterbury, hugs with members of the community outside the High Court in Christchurch, following Tarrant’s sentencing
The sentence, the harshest penalty ever doled out by a New Zealand court, guarantees that Tarrant will die behind bars regardless which country he is in.
On Thursday, Prime Minister Ardern said Tarrant’s crime was one that the country ‘has never seen the likes of before and this is a sentence we’ve never seen before’.
‘It gave me relief, to know that person will never see the light of day,’ she said. ‘The trauma of March 15 is not easily healed, but today I hope is the last where we have any cause to hear or utter the name of the terrorist behind it.
‘His deserves to be a lifetime of complete and utter silence.’
Members of the public wave banners proclaiming ‘we are one’ as they wait to hear the news that Tarrant has been sentenced to spend the rest of his life in jail in New Zealand