An expert has asked if any recent dairy robberies were racially motivated, but says the only way to know is to collect better data, and for police to ask the question.

The current response to hate crimes is "insufficient" and more needs to be done to understand the extent of the issue, the Human Rights Commission says.

In a briefing to incoming Justice Minister Andrew Little, the commission said "steps currently being taken by police are insufficient" when it came to dealing with hate crimes.

There was no central system for recording and collating details about crimes motivated by hatred and racism, which made it difficult to understand the scale and extent of these types of crimes, and how to deal with the issue.

DAVID WHITE/STUFF Police Commissioner Mike Bush says police are in discussions with the commission over whether hate crime legislation is needed.

"Unless these events are captured and analysed, the day to day victimisation experienced by people because of their ethnicity is largely invisible."

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The commission urged the Justice Minister to put in place systems to gather data on hate-motivated crimes, disaggregated by race and other characteristics, in order to better understand the extent of the problem.

Media reports have highlighted seemingly isolated incidents, like the abuse of a Muslim woman in Huntly earlier in the year, and a racist attack on an Auckland man and his family in October.

But the extent of the problem, and any trends, were impossible to identify without more data.

In the United States, hate crimes are recorded by the FBI. It's one of the questions police asked when responding to a job, and the data allowed officials to track trends.

DOMINICO ZAPATA/STUFF Megan Sarah Louise Walton pleaded guilty to behaving in an insulting manner that was likely to cause violence and to two charges of assault, following an incident in Huntly.

Any crime motivated by biases based on race, gender, gender identity, religion, disability, sexual orientation, and ethnicity was considered a hate crime, and these were referred to the FBI.

The number of hate crimes in the US in 2016 was 6121 - about a 5 per cent jump from 2015. About half of those incidents were motivated by race. And that upward trend was expected to continue in 2017.

RISE OF XENOPHOBIA

SUPPLIED Sam Xiao Han claims he was racially abused in Henderson and police have done nothing about it.

University of Auckland professional teaching fellow and Islamic expert Zain Ali said New Zealand was not immune to this type of sentiment, largely thanks to the global society and social media.

"There's an assumption that New Zealand is a fairly welcoming and tolerant society," Ali said.

And while most people were, there was no doubt some New Zealanders were victims of hate crimes - he pointed to Muslims being abused for wearing scarves, and so-called 'Asian drivers'.

The current housing situation in Auckland was a potential breeding ground for xenophobic sentiment, with immigrants frequently being blamed for the housing shortage and high prices.

It was also possible the recent spate of dairy robberies included a racial element, he said.

Many dairy owners who were targeted by the robberies were Indian migrants. That thought would make people uncomfortable, Ali said.

However, a conversation about the issue needed to be had, and the only way to have an informed conversation was to properly track the data.

POLICE CONSIDERING LEGISLATION

Following the Huntly incident (which resulted in charges and a guilty plea), Police Commissioner Mike Bush said police were in discussions with the commission over whether hate crime legislation was needed.

Bush said he was concerned by the rise in hate crimes, and while current laws could cover some cases, police wanted to assess whether it would be better to have "a more relevant and specific piece of legislation".

However, the former National government said it sas no need for new laws.

According the New Zealand Police website, police did not tolerate any crime against a person based on race. These offences were known as hate crimes and were 'vigorously investigated'.

RELIGIOUS TENSIONS RISING

The commission raised the related issues of religious diversity and the potential for violent extremism.

New Zealand was an increasingly religiously diverse nation, the briefing document said.

"Religion plays an important role in race relations, particularly in how communities are perceived and interact with one another.

"Tensions have arisen for a variety of reasons, such as adverse comments, discriminatory and criminal behaviour, including hate speech, vandalism, and desecration of cemeteries and religious places, assaults, workplace discrimination and concerns about people being radicalised."

The Human Rights Commission national statement on religious diversity was currently being reviewed, for the Prime Minister's endorsement early next year.

And the commission called for the establishment of a religious/interfaith ministerial portfolio to deal with issues relating to religion and religious diversity.

Recent high-profile examples, like the establishment of the Auckland University European Students Association, and and an Iran diplomat's ant-Israel speech - which was classified as hate speech - showed this was a growing issue.

NOT IMMUNE TO VIOLENT EXTREMISM

The commission also urged the Government to create a a national strategy, and take strong leadership, on preventing violent extremism.

"New Zealand is not isolated from the threat of violent extremism. There is an urgent need for social sector and community-based strategies and programmes to support citizens and communities to reduce the risk of radicalisation, as well as a national strategy focussed on prevention of violent extremism."

The commission urged Little to create a strategy that aligned prevention, inclusion and rehabilitation programmes.

A New Zealand Security Intelligence Service (SIS) watchlist of as many as 40 people in New Zealand with links to Islamic State was first revealed three years ago, when the Government announced legislation targeting so-called "foreign fighters" who are either already fighting alongside, or are trying to.

Others on the watch list include those who were regularly reading its violent propaganda.

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