The inquiry revealed that the responsibility for investigating right-wing terrorism fell under the remit of the NSIT, however the team's workload was considered too high, making early intervention and risk reduction difficult, and creating inconsistent outcomes.
Subsequent articles reported that SIG had been receiving information on a variety of organisations including unions, contrary to a prior claim that only individuals were targeted.
[3] Within days of details covering SIG activities being released into mainstream media in December 2008, New Zealanders began calling for a commission of enquiry into the group.
[8] SIG has been criticised for spying on peaceful protest and community organisations, wasting resources, and using "Stasi tactics and covert political operations that undermine democracy" (Keith Locke, Green Party police spokesperson).
"[11] The National Security Investigations Team was heavily criticised in the Royal Commission of Inquiry into the Terrorist Attack on Christchurch Mosques on 15 March 2019.
Conclusions from the report noted that the NSIT had placed undue emphasis on policing Muslim communities in order to intervene in potential cases of Islamic extremism, to the detriment of efforts to combat right wing terrorism.
The NSIT's focus on Islamic terrorism was also blamed on former Prime Minister Sir John Key, who emphasised the threat of ISIL around the time of the team's restructure.