According to the New Zealand Herald, Chris Finlayson, minister for the country’s Security Intelligence Service (SIS) and the Government Communications and Security Bureau (GCSB), has already met with top officials in Malaysia.
He was accompanied by New Zealand’s Ambassador for Counter-Terrorism Carl Worker.
On Wednesday, Finlayson met with Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Home Affairs Ahmad Zahid Hamidi to discuss a wide range of security issues including countering terrorism and cybercrime.
New Zealand security analyst Paul Buchanan from 36th Parallel Assessments, said, “We have had no deradicalisation programmes in place, as far as I know.
“In spite of all the talk about terrorism, we have only been talking about the stick approach to extremists and we have no carrot.”
The New Zealand Herald reported that in Malaysia, the government worked with mosque leaders and Muslim associations to identify vulnerable youth, and matched them up with moderate, charismatic Muslim role models.
“That has had a lot of success,” Buchanan said. “And if we are asking them to train us in that kind of programme, then I’m all for it.”
Buchanan also reasoned that Malaysia’s often condemned human rights abuses in the form of laws that permitted detention without charge for up to two years, were mostly limited to reactive, counter-terrorism measures.
He said Malaysia’s preventive, deradicalisation programmes had generally been “lauded”.
“They (Malaysians) are authoritarian and they do things differently. But they have made sure to co-opt all of the Islamic associations, all of the mosques in an effort to keep things at bay.
“If we emulate that, it’s a good thing. The question is, can they secure the degree of support from the Muslim community in New Zealand?” Buchanan said.
There are at present 40 people on New Zealand’s terror watchlist, some of whom are under 24-hour surveillance.
Next month New Zealand’s parliament is expected to pass spying reforms which will allow their foreign intelligence agency, the GCSB, to spy on New Zealanders for the first time.