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As the coronial inquest into the mosque shooting gets underway surely one of the ironies is the fact that something that it is hoped will provide answers needs to answer a couple of questions itself.

Why does it take so long to get an inquiry underway? Is something this far down the track from the event able to give the answers people want?

One of the stories yesterday suggested the great hope was this inquiry would lead to something like this never happening again.

I\'m not sure how this is possible.

A mass shooting has not been part of New Zealand history so there is not really a pattern to be studied. The outworkings of an errant, crazy man is not something that an inquiry can prevent.

It can potentially delve into some of the other issues like the emergency response, they are looking at an exit door and whether it failed to function.

Some are looking for closure. I hope for those who are looking for closure they get it, but for that to happen surely it must be based on the mere functionality of the inquiry, not the specifics and outworkings because an inquiry is not a miracle.

It\\u2019s a series of questions and probes and recollections. I can\'t see how we are going to conclude mass, catastrophic, systematic failure, whereby a large series of recommendations are put forward and the fabric of society is changed as we implement them and go about our business in a completely different way.

This was a tragic day, as a result of a crazed man with a gun, bent on madness and destruction.

I may be proved wrong, but the emergency response appeared astonishing and the bravery involved was extraordinary.

The things we have done already, the gun amnesty and register, seem as political as a response as they are practical. The Christchurch call that was set up has not stopped online hate.

If an entire Government and its contribution is limited to that, what is a coronial inquiry going to achieve?

Call me cynical, but this seems as much procedural as anything.

It\'s four and a half years later, with findings not until at least five and a half years later, it\'s not what you would call urgent, is it?

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