An Australian senator wants to establish a wide-ranging inquiry into far-right extremism following the Christchurch mosque massacre.
South Australian senator Rex Patrick is concerned the Australian man accused of the mass murder was not on any counter-terror watchlists.
Senator Patrick said there had been a great deal of attention paid to Islamic terror over the past two decades, but there was much less of a focus on right-wing white nationalist groups.
"There is in fact a real dearth of hard information and analysis on right-wing extremist violence in Australia," he said on Monday.
"The scale of this threat must be rigorously assessed in light of the Christchurch tragedy."
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New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has announced a royal commission into the mosque shootings 10 days ago, which left 50 people dead and another 50 injured.
Senator Patrick pointed to a recent Australian Institute of Criminology study that highlighted a lack of information and research around right-wing violence, and an absence of formal monitoring systems.
The senator believes more needs to be done to understand the scale of the threat and the demographics of far-right extremists, as well as the victims of their violence.
He also wants an urgent investigation into the role of social media in propagating far-right extremist ideas.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Opposition Leader Bill Shorten will discuss the issue of violent online content with representatives from social media giants in Brisbane on Tuesday.
"This is not just a narrow security and law enforcement issue, any inquiry must be broad in scope and must investigate all dimensions of radicalisation," Senator Patrick said.
He will push to establish the inquiry after the federal election in May.
