Security agencies are preparing advice for the Prime Minister over an application to revoke a terrorist designation.
Two applications by the same applicant have been sent to the Government in relation to an overseas entity.
The Terrorist Designations Working Group is currently developing advice for Prime Minister Christopher Luxon.
"They'll be considering whether that terrorist entity is still a viable threat, is still participating or likely to participate in any kind of terrorist activity," senior fellow at Massey University Centre for Defence and Security Studies John Battersby told Newshub.
On September 1, 2022, former Prime Minister Dame Jacinda Ardern received the first application for the revocation of the designation.
The Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet (DPMC) then received the same application from the same applicant in June 2023.
"We don't disclose designation entities which are under active consideration, but the public will be advised of the name of the entity if the designation is revoked," DPMC told Newshub.
Newshub asked who made the applications.
"The names of applicants who request designation or revocations of designations are generally not disclosed for privacy reasons."
Who is on the list?
New Zealand has obligations under United Nations Security Council (UNSC) Resolutions concerning international counterterrorism.
One of those obligations is to take action against terrorist entities listed by the UN.
A separate resolution allows New Zealand to identify the entities against which our Government should act.
- Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades (AAMB)
- Al-Shabaab
- Continuity Irish Republican Army (CIRA)
- Ejercito de Liberacion Nacional (ELN)
- Euskadi Ta Askatasuna (ETA)
- Harakat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami, Bangladesh (HUJI-B)
- Indian Mujahideen (IM)
- Islamic Resistance (IR)
- Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant - Sinai Province (ISIL Sinai)
- Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades (IQB)
- Jaish Al-Adl
- Jamaah Anshrout Daulah
- Maute Group
- New People's Army/Communist Party of the Philippines (NPA/CPP)
- Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ)
- Partiya Karkeren Kurdistan (PKK)
- Real Irish Republican Army (RIRA)
- Revolutionary People's Liberation Party/Front (DHKP/C)
- Brenton Harrison Tarrant
- The American Proud Boys
- The Base
- The Shining Path
"What it actually does is prevents any New Zealander from aiding or abetting or assisting or giving comfort to anybody on the list," Battersby added.
In October 2020, an application was made to revoke the designation of convicted mass murderer Brenton Tarrant.
In November 2021, then-Prime Minister Ardern refused the request.
"Since he made his application, there's been an amendment to the Terrorism Suppression Act that if someone is imprisoned then that review period is suspended," Battersby said.
Entities are reviewed every three years, but they can write to the Prime Minister requesting a revocation.
"There's always political risk and yeah I would say there's very little to be gained by a Prime Minister taking somebody off a list."
