The biggest terrorist threat to New Zealand may come from “radicalised” militants who are frustrated in their efforts to travel and fight overseas, a visiting expert says.

Jolene Jerard, a manager at Singapore’s International Centre for Political Violence and Terrorism Research, has interviewed hundreds of terrorists, including senior Al Qaeda leaders, incarcerated in trouble spots such as Northern Iraq and Afghanistan.

Jerard said that while the chance of an attack in New Zealand was lower than in other countries in the region, the risks were not zero.