Australian PM Scott Morrison 'open' to repatriating New Zealand mosque gunman

Australia's Prime MinisterScottMorrisonsaid on Friday he was open to discussions over whether Australian mass killer Brenton Tarrant, jailed for life without parole this week for the New Zealand mosque shootings, should serve his sentence in his home country.

Hesaid he had received no request to transfer Tarrant but he was prepared to talk about the prospect with his New Zealand counterpart Jacinda Ardern.

''We'll have an open discussion and look at the issues around this,"Morrisonsaid, adding that the views of the affected families would need to be considered first.

"I know all Australians and all New Zealanders would want to see this character locked up forever and never see the light of day again.And I agree with that. Whether he's held in New Zealand or Australia."

White supremacist Brenton Tarrant was sentenced to life without parole on Thursday for the attacks on two mosques last year that killed 51 Muslim worshippers.

Tarrant, a former gym instructor from the rural New South Wales town of Grafton, moved to New Zealand in 2017 and immediately started planning an attack on the country's Muslim community.

While Australia and New Zealand have close visa arrangements, they do not have a prisoner transfer deal, creating a hurdle to any near-term change in Tarrant's imprisonment.

Special security measures for Tarrant are expected to cost taxpayers$2.4 millionover two years, according to New Zealand government estimates.

Government documentssay he is "likely to have needs and present risk at a level of severity beyond any" managed in New Zealand before.

The issue of Tarrant's nationality was raised several times during this week's sentencing hearings in Christchurch.