Photo / NZME Video / Mana News Live
The anti-vaccine mandate protests outside Parliament have erupted this morning after police attempted to reduce the size of the site, to increase traffic flow for residents within Pōneke’s CBD.
Day 15 of the anti-mandate protests in Pōneke / NZME
Officers arrived in riot gear early to assist contractors moving cement barricades put down on Monday morning, closer toward Parliament; protestors have been told their vehicles can leave, but will not be allowed to return.
Riot gear was approved because police allege some protestors sprayed urine and threw faeces at officers when the barricades were placed Monday.
Anti mandate protesters face off with police in Wellington / NZME
Today's unrest has seen claims of police brutality and assaults on officers. Police say a car was driven into their officers this morning, and three required medical treatment after they were sprayed with a substance NZME is reporting was "acid".
Several arrests were also made; one man was photographed handcuffed and bloodied being escorted away by police. A woman who appeared to be attempting access to her vehicle past the police barricade line, was shoved into a car by an officer with a riot shield, drawing fury from protestors.
Wellington mayor Andy Foster told the AM show this morning he met with protesters and requested they stop expanding on to the streets. He says he also asked them not to camp near the Cenotaph.
"This is a very dynamic situation and we've got to work out day by the best way to respond to it," Foster said.
A bloodied man is led away following a spate of arrests as police attempt to reduce the Wellington protest size / NZME
This morning’s skirmish marks day 15 of the protest and comes a day after National announced a policy to end vaccine mandates.
National leader Christopher Luxon attacked the government's policies toward those opposing mandates as "divisive".
“National is strongly pro-vaccination but the public health rationale for mandates is much less than it was just a few months ago. Omicron is just so infectious and busts through vaccination, including boosters,” Luxon said.
"They [mandates] should begin to be removed progressively once we are through the peak of Omicron."
Yesterday evening mana whenua renewed their calls for a political solution to the protests and condemned protestors who had been putting sewage down stormwater drains, desecrating the moana.
“As ahi kaa, we have a sacred role as kaitiaki (guardians) of our ancestral lands at Pipitea Pā as well as our moana (ocean), and this behaviour is both culturally offensive and a public health risk.” Port Nicholson Block Settlement Trust chair Kara Puketapu-Dentice said.
Puketapu-Dentice says the tribe is still hopeful of a peaceful resolution and supports the efforts of "everyone who has been working to maintain the peace ".
“We need to keep our eye on the future when we will soon be able to move freely and without fear of the sickness that covid brings.
“Until then, we need to hang tough and respect our whenua, our moana and each other.” he said.