A protest at New Zealand’s Parliament has stretched into a third day with a group camped out on the grounds and nearby streets.
Authorities have told the group protesting at covid-19 vaccine mandates to leave, but there have been no signs of that so far.
Police are continuing to advance slowly into the protest on the parliamentary precinct, with lines of officers gradually moving into the crowd and making arrests.
- LIVE UPDATES: RNZ News live blog and streaming feed
- Covid-19: NZ protesters camped at Parliament warned over trespass
Well over a dozen people have been arrested so far today in the efforts to clear the protest.
Some protesters have responded with abuse, haka and hurling objects at officers.
The Speaker has authorised the closure of the Parliamentary precinct, if the police deem it necessary to clear the lawn.
‘Move on’, Ardern tells protesters
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern today told anti-vaccine mandate protesters outside Parliament to ‘move on’.
She spoke after visiting a covid-19 vaccination centre in Albany, Auckland.
Ardern said it was ultimately an operational matter for police about handling the protest.
“Obviously every New Zealander has a right to protest, but there are also rules around what is able to happen on Parliament’s forecourt and of course we would expect that people have behaviours that don’t disrupt the ability of others to go on with their lives as well,” she said.
Ardern said she thought the majority of New Zealanders shared a similar sentiment, to keep one another safe and live their lives and do as much as they could do to ensure they could continue to live our lives as they did before the pandemic.
This content originally appeared on Asia Pacific Report and was authored by APR editor.
APR editor | Radio Free (2022-02-09T22:18:06+00:00) NZ protesters at Parliament arrested as crowd hurls objects at police. Retrieved from https://www.radiofree.org/2022/02/09/nz-protesters-at-parliament-arrested-as-crowd-hurls-objects-at-police/
Please log in to upload a file.
There are no updates yet.
Click the Upload button above to add an update.