The Human Rights Commission is closely watching developments in Christchurch.

Chief HRC Commissioner Paul Hunt told Jack Tame that the HRC is horrified by the events yesterday.

He says New Zealand welcomes all backgrounds and all ethnicities. 

"Diversity enriches us all, and Islamophobia, antisemitism, xenophobia, racism, intolerance in all its terrible forms do not belong in modern Aotearoa New Zealand." 

Hunt says how we respond to yesterday's events will define us.

"Human rights have to guide our response," which he says ultimately make up the values to "live a safe, peaceful, dignified life".

He says that we have to show solidarity with the Muslim community. 

However, as we move on, Hunt says we have to reflect on the dark underbelly in New Zealand. 

"We need to underscore our values. We need to fight intolerance in all its forms. We need to think about how better to educate communities and in schools of our multicultural beliefs." 

Hunt wants us to affirm them throughout our society. 

Hunt says that this incident is akin to the July 22 2011 massacre in Norway in terms of scale and how it affected a small country, and we can follow their example to come back. 

"I am sure New Zealand will bounce back."