Bridge deck sways beneath feet of five thousand marchers

1.30pm

UPDATE - An estimated 5000 people gathered under looming skies on the North Shore for a controversial protest march across the Auckland Harbour bridge today.

At mid-morning, bridge authorities changed configurations on the eight-lane bridge to three north and three southbound lanes, so the two northbound clip-on lanes could be reserved for the marchers to use.

About two thousand marchers had gathered in a North Shore park about an hour before the scheduled 11am start, carrying Confederation and Maori sovereignty flags and banners with unambiguous messages for the government.

"This confiscates what little Maori have left," said one banner.

"This bill freezes Maori in 1840. It denies us development," said another.

By the time the march started virtually on the stroke of 11am the crowd had swollen to an estimated 5000 marchers.

"If we can get this many here today imagine how many we will get in Wellington," said long-time activist Ken Mair.

The hikoi is due in Wellington on May 5 where organisers expect many thousand will gather at Parliament to oppose the Government's Seabed and Foreshore Bill.

Today's march began slowly and within half an hour the head of the march had only just reached the foot of the harbour bridge, with the tail end of the march several hundred metres back.

As the marchers prepared to set off organisers split into several groups in order they said to minimise concentrating too many in one spot on the bridge.

A few moments after the march began the rain eased off.

Scores of marchers carried conch shells which were sounded along the length of the bridge.

As they approached the middle of the bridge, the sensation of the two western clip-on lanes moving beneath them surprised many marchers.

At the very apex of the bridge, the two northbound lanes were visibly swaying, moving about 150mm independently of the main bridge structure.

For many marchers it was a unique experience.

"This is a bit scary. You don't get to do this too often," said one.

The steel rails on the southern side of the bridge were visibly moving in a waving motion.

One marcher said those crossing the bridge had never been more united in their opposition to the seabed and foreshore bill. He said it was not an "us and them process". The issue concerned all New Zealanders.

"If she [Prime Minister Helen Clark] can do this to us, she can do it to all New Zealanders," the marcher said.

He said Maori would never deny access to the seabed and foreshore to all New Zealanders.

A strong police presence was evident but police earlier said they expected no trouble.

The Police Commissioner's Office has backed the controversial decision by North Shore police to close two lanes over the bridge for the protest.

The decision was taken on safety grounds, Assistant Commissioner Peter Marshall said in a statement.

Police had taken into account fears the bridge was at risk from hundreds of people marching in step.

Five thousand runners had crossed the bridge safely in a recent marathon, he said.

"Police would exert sufficient crowd control measures to ensure a measured flow over the bridge in the unlikely event that considerably more people turned up."

Many marchers were caught unprepared when light drizzle turned to rain and temperatures fell before the scheduled 11am start.

Among those under-dressed for the wet weather was a pregnant woman, bare-legged in only a thin top, pushing two children in a stroller with another child at her side.

Another marcher gave the woman and her children black plastic rubbish bags, with head and arm holes cut out, to protect them from the rain.

While others were better prepared, many marchers wore only light clothes in the face of persistent rain and a steady northwest wind.

National Party leader Don Brash today described police minister George Hawkins' decision to the march across the bridge as "an awful precedent".

"Can anyone imagine a group of protesting farmers being allowed to close two lanes of the Harbour Bridge? As a local MP, Mr Hawkins should act in the interests of Aucklanders," he said in a statement.

The marchers were not walking the length of the North Island and so should have taken a different route.

"That would be in the national interest, and it would be in Auckland's interest," Dr Brash said.

By about 1pm, nearly two hours after the march started, the last of the marchers had crossed to the city side of the bridge.

Police had earlier said the two northbound lanes would reopen by 1pm and they were close to achieving that objective.

- NZPA