1 Apr 2022

Covid-19: Police on alert for more protest action in Wellington

From Morning Report, 7:13 am on 1 April 2022

The police and parliament are on alert for more protest action from the anti-mandate movement.

Following the 23-day occupation a new group has sprung up demanding an end to all Covid-19 legislation.

Parliament Grounds are currently closed and guarded.

Assistant Police Commissioner Sandra Venables told Morning Report the police respect the right to lawful protest but have a low tolerance for disruption to Parliament.

"As a precaution we have called additional police staff in from outside of the Wellington police district. And plans, as I said, are in place to respond as required. I'm not going to go into the specifics of the number of staff that I have here."

Venables said the police can move across the city at haste if needed.