"We must be willing to make the changes that we know may not necessarily have changed history, but could change the future," she said at a news briefing as quoted by BBC.

On Friday, a man of Sri Lankan origin staged a stabbing attack at a Countdown supermarket in Auckland that was described by Ardern as an act of terrorism.

The attack left seven people injured, three of whom are in critical condition.

The attacker was shot dead by police on site.

He was a person of national security interest since 2016 and was under constant monitoring.

New Zealand's government had sought to hurry changes to the country's terrorism laws in the months after his release into the community as he was deemed a threat.

(With UNI/Xinhua inputs)