Skip to content

Media Statement from Combined Protest Groups in Parliament Grounds

protest rain flag NZ Freedom village Parliament rain

Convoy 2022 NZ
Freedom Alliance
New Zealand Doctors Speaking Out with Science
Outdoors & Freedom Movement
The Freedom and Rights Coalition
The Hood NZ
Voices for Freedom.

We are united in demanding an end to Covid-19 mandates. Until the mandates end, we are determined to maintain our presence.

No response has been received to yesterday’s letter sent to the government seeking an urgent meeting to open dialogue. We strongly urge the government to engage – they want a solution, we want a solution.

An important milestone is that police have acknowledged our right to protest on Parliament grounds.

We have been actively engaging with police including on traffic management being mindful of public safety and wishing to minimise disruption to the people of Wellington.

Despite this, police have today issued a statement regarding parking that we have not “shown any concern for the negative impact” of protestors’ activities. This is yet more misinformation. Police know we have been highly involved in discussions with them and that we share their concerns.

We are a peaceful movement and do not condone or tolerate aggression or intimidation. We have a dedicated internal security team to maintain a peaceful operation.

We speak for the vast majority of the protestors present, but not all. Accusations have been made about threatening behaviour and we encourage the police to work with us on that to identify those involved.

The Prime Minister accuses the protestors of spreading misinformation, while claiming support for the mandates because 95% of New Zealanders are vaccinated. It’s that claim which is misinformation.

We, therefore, challenge Labour to run a national poll and share the results, asking New Zealanders: “Do you support the mandates?”.

The Prime Minister is also deliberately trying to portray the protests as being about vaccination. They are not. The protestors include the partially vaccinated, double-vaccinated, boosted and unvaccinated. All however are united that the mandates must end.

The international evidence could not be more clear: Omicron does not discriminate between the vaccinated and unvaccinated. Therefore the mandates are no longer necessary.

This communication summarises the views of the majority of groups present at Parliament:

Latest