Brenton Tarrant: Christchurch mosque attacker charged with terrorism

Suspect also faces 51 charges of murder and 40 of attempted murder

Brenton Tarrant at an earlier court appearance in March. (Reuters)

The man accused of killing 51 people in attacks on two mosques in the New Zealand city of Christchurch has been charged with terrorism.

Brenton Tarrant, 28, was charged with "engaging in a terrorist act", police said in a statement on Tuesday.

The charge comes with a maximum penalty of life imprisonment and will be a test case for New Zealand's terrorism laws, introduced in 2002.

Mr Tarrant is already facing 51 charges of murder and 40 of attempted murder following the attacks on the Al Noor mosque and the Linwood Islamic Centre on 15 March.

Police met with more than 200 people, including survivors of the shootings and the families of victims, to inform them of the new charges.

Less than a week after the shootings, the deadliest in New Zealand’s history, the country banned all semi-automatic, military-style weapons to prevent another similar attack from happening again.

Prime minister Jacinda Ardern is also spearheading an effort to get both governments and tech companies to improve their efforts to tackle extremist content after the Australian shooter live-streamed the attack from a head-mounted camera.

Mr Tarrant is next due to appear in court on June 14, after being remanded in custody in April and ordered to undergo psychiatric assessment to determine if he was fit to stand trial.

Additional reporting by agencies