KEY POINTS:
• 50 confirmed dead, with victims ranging in age from 2 to older than 60
• 34 injured people remain in Christchurch Hospital, 12 are critical in intensive care
• Seven operating theatres in use, many patients will require multiple surgeries
• Girl, 4, remains in critical condition in Auckland's Starship Hospital
• PM Jacinda Ardern is seeking advice on any possible deportation of the man accused
• MI5 probe gunman's links to British extremists
• Australian-born accused gunman Brenton Tarrant a 'buffed up weirdo': associates
• Kiwis have already donated more than $6m for the victims' families

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern says there are questions over how the Christchurch gunman was missed and why he wasn't on the security service's radar. 

The country is still reeling after the deadly terror attack in Christchurch that killed 50 people and injured over 50.

The Prime Minister told Mike Hosking the alleged gunman wasn't on New Zealand's radar.

"He wasn't just not on our list, he wasn't on Australia's either, keeping in my that was his primary residency - he was a citizen of Austalia."

"There are questions that we are asking [but] they go a bit beyond his travel. Someone that has such violent, extremist views, were there opportunities where we should have had indications earlier? Those are questions that we do need to answer."

Jacinda Ardern said they are seeking those answers but there are still a lot of questions.

She said questions over how he developed such hateful views are also relevant.
"That doesn't come out of nowhere and that equally needs to be part of our view."

"New Zealand cannot ignore that there are people who share those views here. We do need to make sure that, across the board, we are doing what needs to be done to prevent, protect and give assurance to people in the future."

"We cannot simply assume that because this was an Australian citizen, that there won't be people with those views here, there are," she said.

Ardern acknowledged that there has been an increase in similar ideology and rhetoric over the last nine months, which New Zealand's intelligence agencies had been looking into.

As for deporting the alleged gunman, the Prime Minister said they are currently looking at the options.

"What tends to happen...is that you put them through your criminal justice system, you're then the one that detains them until the conclusion of their sentence, what I am being asked is, will anything happen before then? That's a difference in the way that we [Australia and New Zealand] have tended to operate so I'm seeking a bit of advice on that."

However, Ardern offered assurances that he would face New Zealand's justice system.

She said she is seeking legal advice before discussing the matter with Australia.

The Prime Minister said Australia would need legal grounds to continue to detain the gunman because he committed a crime on New Zealand soil.

Earlier Ardern said New Zealand's gun laws would change following the attack. She said she will raise the issue in Cabinet today.

"I want to move quickly in giving people a sense of direction. When this kind of tragedy...occurred in Australia, they made announcements fairly quickly but still went through a legislative process so that would be my expectation in New Zealand."

The country remains at its highest security threat level in history. Ardern said she couldn't give a timeline for when that might change.