On the Tiles: First-hand account on what it was like at Parliament Covid protest

Police watching over Freedom and Rights Coalition protesters gathered at Parliament, Wellington. Photo / Mark Mitchell

While a large protest at Parliament against Covid restrictions and vaccine mandates this week didn't turn violent, there are concerns over some of the messages that were on display.

On this week's episode of On the Tiles, senior political reporter Thomas Coughlan was joined by Newsroom political editor Jo Moir and Australian Associated Press correspondent Ben McKay to discuss the week's political news.

The week has been dominated by a protest on Tuesday, where an estimated 5000 people descended on Parliament to protest a myriad of concerns, namely lockdown restrictions and vaccine mandates.

Journalists who attended the protest on Parliament's forecourts had tennis balls thrown at them by the crowd, but got a mixed response when approaching people in the crowd.

Moir said it was an "obvious minority" with around 5000 people attending compared to the 90 per cent of the population that have their first dose of the Covid-19 vaccine.

However, she said that the number of Police at the protest shows that the group can't be dismissed.

"The threats were phenomenal. Some of the messages that have been flying around social are actually really terrifying, and the mood was actually quite aggressive on the day as well."

McKay said it was "quite hard to keep up with how many things were being protested" amongst the crowd, but noted that there will never be 100 per cent support for anything in New Zealand and the protest is not unexpected.

And while the protest did not descend into violence, McKay said that he didn't like the organisers claiming it was a peaceful protest.

"It's not a peaceful protest when you have signs likening the Government's actions to rape.

"It's awful, that's abusive. All the Nazi insignia, it's so discrediting of their cause as illegitimate as it is."

Also on the show this week, the panel discussed Labour's drop in two polls released this week and how the ongoing response to Covid has shaped public confidence, and touched on the contentious Three Waters debate.

On the Tiles is a New Zealand Herald podcast.

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