Police expect the hīkoi to protest the Treaty Principles Bill to be peaceful, but are preparing to avoid mistakes made during the occupation of Parliament in 2022. Photo / Mark Mitchell
Police expect the hīkoi to protest the Treaty Principles Bill to be peaceful, but are preparing to avoid mistakes made during the occupation of Parliament in 2022. Photo / Mark Mitchell
Police expect the nationwide hīkoi to be peaceful but are aware of the potential for gang members to protest the patch ban coming into force soon.
A spokeswoman for the hīkoi organisers says right-wing, white supremacist groups pose more danger to public safety, and urges police protection.
Police say planning has been under way for weeks to avoid a repeat of disruption caused by the pandemic-era occupation of Parliament.
Police bosses have frozen leave for officers across the country to prepare for tens of thousands of people protesting against a proposed Treaty of Waitangi law.
An estimated 10,000 to 25,000 people are expected to join hīkoi mō te Tiriti, according to the police, which is scheduled to startat Te Rerenga Wairua (Cape Rēinga) on Monday and reach the grounds of Parliament eight days later.
The hīkoi is marching in opposition to the Treaty Principles Bill, which had its first reading in Parliament this week, and is due to arrive in Wellington on November 19.
It is expected to be the largest hīkoi since 15,000 people walked in convoy to Parliament in 2004 to protest the controversial foreshore and seabed legislation.
For weeks, police have been working closely with hīkoi leaders and co-ordinating with local councils to draw up traffic management plans to minimise disruption to the public.
But police have said they are also aware of the risk of other protest groups using the gathering on Parliament grounds for their own agendas and potentially inflaming tensions.
“Iwi leaders organising the hīkoi are very focused on being a peaceful march, but at the same time we know from history that others may join,” said Superintendent Kelly Ryan, who is in charge of national planning.
The Gangs Act, which includes a ban on gang patches in public, comes into force two days after the hīkoi is scheduled to reach Parliament.
Ryan confirmed those protesting against the “patch ban” are among those who they anticipate might join the march, as well as groups protesting the conflict in Gaza.
It raises the possibility of gang members wearing their patches en masse to test the resolve of police to enforce the new law once it comes into force on November 21.
“We have to plan for that occurrence,” said Ryan, who confirmed police had frozen leave requests to boost the numbers of staff available.
“We’re planning for a peaceful hīkoi but we have contingency built in to scaling up [numbers of staff], scaling back, depending on the situation.”
Police are aware gang members may use the hīkoi to protest against the gang patch ban around the time the new law comes into force. Photo / Duncan Brown
In the hypothetical situation of a large number of gang members flouting the new law, Ryan said the response from police would be a balancing act.
A heavy-handed approach could incite violence, so another strategy would be to identify and prosecute any alleged offenders later.
“If there was an immediate risk of harm, absolutely we would step in,” said Ryan.
“But we don’t want to escalate behaviour by pulling in [police staff] quickly, and that just creates a problem. Every action we take has to be balanced with the whole of public safety.”
Kiri Tamihere, a spokesperson for the Toitū Te Tiriti movement, expects more than 20,000 people to participate as the hīkoi arrives at Parliament grounds.
Although the police drew a distinction between those marching against the Treaty Principles Bill and other protest groups, like the gang patch ban or the Gaza conflict, Tamihere did not.
She said the kaupapa [cause or principle] of the hīkoi was about solidarity where “Te Tiriti o Waitangi [the Treaty of Waitangi] and indigenous rights are being attacked”.
“The gang patch legislation is part of that attack, so we do not view those affected by this legislation as separate from the cause,” Tamihere said.
“We also do not separate global conflicts from the Toitū Te Tiriti kaupapa because, by and large, these conflicts have come about from the consistent abuse of indigenous communities across the world; indigenous communities rising up against the tyranny of colonisation.”
Anyone wishing to participate in the hīkoi must do so peacefully and respectfully, Tamihere said.
“The safety of everyone is paramount to us. We will not accept any behaviour that will put our kaumātua and babies at risk.”
If anyone was going to cause a problem, Tamihere said it would more likely be “right-wing supremacist organisations” than people on the hīkoi.
“While the police are being co-operative with their support of the hīkoi, we are expecting them to provide as much protection for hīkoi participants from any potential threat from outside organisations.”
Regardless of what may or may not occur, Ryan said the police would be ready with enough staff and equipment available to quickly “respond or prevent any behaviour that is unlawful”.
It’s one of the lessons learned from the occupation of Parliament’s grounds in 2022, in which the police leadership initially underestimated the risk posed by the protesters in light of similar convoys in Australia and Canada.
A subsequent operation to remove the protesters failed as the police were unprepared in terms of planning, resourcing, staffing and equipment, according to a review by the Independent Police Conduct Authority.
Jared Savage covers crime and justice issues, with a particular interest in organised crime. He joined the Herald in 2006 and has won a dozen journalism awards in that time, including twice being named Reporter of the Year. He is also the author of Gangland and Gangster’s Paradise.
