6137 new community cases of COVID-19 were reported on Thursday, and one person has died with the virus.
Video / Jed Bradley / Mark Mitchell / George Heard / Michael Craig / Dean Purcell
Protest action is now being planned around the country, with people wanting vaccine mandates removed encouraged to walk across Auckland Harbour Bridge this Saturday.
It comes on day 17 of the protest, after police and protesters clashed on Parliament grounds on Wednesday night following the removal of at least one concrete bollard near the occupation site to let vehicles in.
Protesters claim as many as 30 vehicles managed to re-enter the area after returning from Sky Stadium. Police had earlier warned their offer of free parking for these vehicles - which had choked Wellington streets - would expire at the end of the day.
Clashes started when a large convoy of protest vehicles made their way along Tinakori Rd and down Bowen St about 10pm.
More police have been seen at the protest on Wednesday night. Photo / George Heard
The Freedom and Rights Coalition revealed on Facebook this morning - as part of a national campaign to "March Out these Mandates" - they intend to walk over the bridge as part of the Auckland demonstration.
The group, connected with Brian Tamaki's Destiny Church, are also advertising protest action to take place in Tauranga, Napier, Wellington, Nelson and Christchurch.
During a Facebook Live session this morning Brian Tamaki did not refer to the protest action but reiterated his message to end mandates on March 1.
The coalition group said they intended to make "a statement at significant landmarks" across New Zealand, touting them as "peaceful, family-friendly" events.
The planned harbour bridge protest will see people gather on a North Shore domain.
A Waka Kotahi spokesperson said there are no plans to close the Auckland Harbour Bridge despite the anti-mandate demonstrators flagging these plans.
The road agency had not been contacted by organisers of the demonstration and there were no plans to close the bridge to traffic.
"NZ Police will lead the response to this demonstration, with Waka Kotahi providing support to ensure the safe management of traffic in the area," said the spokesperson.
Meanwhile talks with protest leaders have been "constructive" but resolution is still likely to take weeks, says the Chief Human Rights Commissioner Paul Hunt.
"There's a lot of listening that needs to be done and at the moment people are hurting, they're worried, they're angry, they're confused," Hunt told NewstalkZB's Mike Hosking.
"When a relationship is under strain you have to listen and talk and that's what we're beginning to do."
He said it was not a one-off meeting, describing it as a process that would stretch over days and weeks, and involved both protesters and other stakeholders.
Asked if this meant the protesters would still be on the site in weeks he replied: "That I don't know but the issues are going to remain whether the protesters remain or not."
He reiterated he did not speak for protesters nor the government, but he spoke for human rights.
A protester stands at the concrete barrier on Thursday morning. Photo / Jack Crossland
A human rights requirement was that government listen to what communities were saying, he said.
"There will be no resolution without listening," said Hunt.
Speaking with a number of leaders from different organisations, he said the atmosphere had been both constructive and respectful.
While the protesters were a very mixed group that included a few who expressed views that were regarded as completely unacceptable in a democracy.
"Those people must be called out but most of the protesters believe in dialogue, believe in democracy and it's unhelpful to label all the protesters extremists or terrorists.
Hunt said it was obvious in listening to them they didn't have all the information available to them, this included inquiries set up by government to review traffic light settings.
"I'm informed the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet are looking at the vaccination mandates.
"If that's the case that's very, very welcome. The protesters need to know that sort of thing."
Police and protesters clash at the Parliament occupation on Wednesday night. Photo / George Heard
Earlier the Department of Corrections told two sex offenders who've been at the protest at Parliament to leave.
The department says a small number of people serving community-based sentences or orders with GPS monitoring have attended the demonstration but none have breached their conditions.
A spokesperson says they must not associate with a person under 16, but being at the same location as children wouldn't be a breach of their conditions, unless they had direct contact.
But the department says the safety of the community is its top priority, so where it can direct someone not to attend a specific location, it's doing so.
This includes the two offenders mentioned above, along with a further seven offenders in the Wellington region, subject to extended supervision orders for sexual offending.
ACT leader David Seymour said he believes the protest in Wellington is the concentrated form of the frustrations people in New Zealand up and down the country.
He told TVNZ's Breakfast show that the Government, the Opposition and all politicians alike needed to solve problems relating to a Covid response that did not make sense anymore.
Day 16 of the Parliament protest in Wellington. Photo / George Heard
Seymour said the response was now too expensive and was not working.
Māori Party co-leader Debbie Ngarewa-Packer says this is "Government's problem".
She said the protest was a consequence of people's frustrations and the uncertainty surrounded with the Covid response and vaccine mandates.
"The hurt and the trauma is coming out now."
Ngarewa-Packer said the Māori Party did not support those involved at the protest - which now included white supremacists and people who had threatened marae and Māori too.
Asked about former politician Winston Peters going down to the protest and former Prime Minister Jim Bolger getting involved, Seymour said: "Everyone's got a right to have a say - I don't know what they're adding."
Seymour said it was time to move on from rules that don't make sense and dump isolation and testing requirements that were not adding any value and instead adding cost.
Earlier Police Minister Poto Williams told Newstalk ZB's Kate Hawkesby there had been some really positive developments occur this week including protesters choosing to leave the site.
"I'm confident in the work police are doing and I really support them to continue to do that and to move this to resolution as soon as we can.
"I don't think the police are the bad guys here. I think the bad guys are the ones who are unlawfully protesting at parliament and behaving in a way that is clearly a lot more than unreasonable.
"In many cases it's offensive."
She said police were doing an extraordinary job of keeping people who live and work in the area safe, and it was her job to make sure police had the resources to do that.
"We really want to restore Wellington back to the people of Wellington," she said.
"It's been a matter of negotiating with those who are able to be negotiated with and ensuring that the police are able to put in a tactical response so we can resolve this as quickly as possible."
She described it as a "tricky situation" and said law enforcement was about getting the capital back to normal.
Three police officers were injured and three protesters were arrested in the skirmishes. Photo / George Heard
It comes after police made several efforts yesterday to add bollards to the camp's boundary to prevent people from joining, following violent clashes between the groups after an early-morning police operation on Tuesday.
Three police officers were injured and three protesters arrested in the skirmishes.
It also follows news yesterday that two Covid-19 cases among protesters, and five among policer officers working on the operation, had been confirmed by the Ministry of Health.
One protester claimed about 30 vehicles entered the occupied area on Wednesday night after protesters moved a concrete bollard, allowing traffic to come through.
Protesters could be seen yelling at police officers as a forklift brought in another barricade. Others were urging protesters to "keep your hands off the cops".
A tow truck was used to remove a vehicle in the middle of Whitmore St.
It's understood the car's occupant was removed from his vehicle by police and arrested.
On Thursday morning there were rows of barriers blocking Hill Street. Photo / Jack Crossland
In a statement, police confirmed a car had been towed after it attempted to enter the protest area at Bowen St, near the cenotaph, but insisted "constructive discussions with protesters are ongoing".
Police said they would continue to reduce the cordon in the coming days as the "focus remains on returning the city back to normal as quickly as possible".
Riot police were seen leaving Hill St shortly after 11pm after they lined up near the concrete bollard boundary, while more than 100 protesters chanted "love and peace".
Protesters spoken to said the police blockade made life more difficult in their "village".
Rubbish piles up on day 16 of the occupation. Police blockades have prevented services getting into the site, protesters say. Photo / George Heard
A woman who helped set up the food station in the centre of Molesworth St said food donations were dropped at blockades several hundred metres away.
Protesters were using vehicles internally to transport the donated goods.
"They are trying to make things uncomfortable for us, subtly antagonising us to break down our morale, but we are like water - solutions will flow."
On Wednesday, the once full streets surrounding Parliament were down to about a third of Saturday's peak levels, with mainly just a steadfast crew remaining.
The Herald viewed rubbish bags piling up and a generally subdued atmosphere in the internal camp.
The atmosphere in the outer areas was tenser, with some people drinking alcohol at their campsites and vans, visibly intoxicated, and some continuing to intimidate journalists and passers-by.
A new community group called 'Aotearoa Stronger Together' has formed to show solidarity with Wellingtonians and call for an end to the ongoing occupation at Parliament.
It's planning a number of actions that people of the city - and allies elsewhere - can take part in together to send a the message to protesters to go home.
Spokesperson Lauren Hourigan said Wellingtontians had witnessed and experiences "sustained intimidation, harassment and threats" while trying to go about their daily lives.
"As a city, Wellington is used to and welcomes protest but this is not normal.
"This is not a peaceful demonstration. This event has been saturated with violent and far-right messages, including signs calling for the execution of public officials and journalists."
Another spokesperson Justine Sachs said members of the Jewish community were increasingly concerned with the use of anti-semitic message, images and tropes, such as signs referring to the Prime Minister as "Jewcinda".
"This, alongside the images of swastikas, Islamophobic content, confederate flags, and violent misogyny, should be enough for any reasonable person to reject the protest outright", Sachs said.
Thousands of protesters flocked to the site on Saturday. Photo / Mike Scott
Many protesters have left since the weekend, some because the atmosphere became increasingly tense and violent because of a "few hotheads".
There has been infighting among groups present, suggestions of sexual assaults and some protest leaders have called for children to be taken offsite.
Police have seemingly capitalised on this infighting, launching operations on Monday evening and the early hours of Tuesday to install concrete blockades, operating a one-way policy.
These actions also saw some of the most violent scenes since the first few days of the protest, including officers hospitalised after being sprayed with an "unknown substance", a car nearly being driven into police and arrested protesters reporting injuries.
Protesters had been allowed to park for free at Sky Stadium but from today will be charged $15 a day. Police were also preparing to help move people on.
Police said they will maintain a presence at the site but refused to discuss tactics.
Crime and justice expert Dr Jarrod Gilbert said police were clearly regaining control, which would be "welcomed by most New Zealanders".
When it had become clear actions of protesters were moving "above and beyond what any see as reasonable and acceptable" police had suitably stepped up their actions, Gilbert said.
"It is a dynamic situation and police need to be nimble enough to change strategy."
The risk of going hard too early risked criticism of shutting down a protest, while also going harder with more violence could create a "far bigger problem than the one we are facing", he said.
On Saturday Lambton Quay was chocka with vehicles and protesters. Photo / George Heard
Gilbert said given all the dynamics at play it was "impossible" to say exactly how the occupation could or should play out.
"There is a seemingly endless number of complaints. You are not dealing with one group but dozens and, within those, they represent reasonable concerns right through to desperate extremists who see some sort of revolution as necessary.
"Adding to that is an undercurrent of terrible disinformation."
In the past few days, protesters have blamed an escalation in violence on police agitators planted in the crowd and even suggested the substance thrown at officers was police pepper - claims strongly dismissed by police.
Gilbert said many people would hope the current containment approach would be successful and protesters would continue to trickle out.
Wellington Mayor Andy Foster has met twice with protesters seeking a peaceful resolution.
"We can all stand on the sidelines and say 'please go' but that's not actually going to achieve that, it's only when you're getting in there and listening to people and talking to people when you actually have a chance of getting a result."
Human Rights Commissioner Paul Hunt also called on the Government to listen to the protesters, leading a "conciliatory process" in an effort to de-escalate the situation.
Hunt met representatives from Voices for Freedom and the Human Rights Commission, as well as Police, Freedom and Rights Coalition and independents.
