Far right video came from contractor working at Parliament

A screengrab of the video taken from Bowen House. Photo / Supplied

The firm overseeing the redevelopment of part of Parliament has confirmed that the person who took a video of the Parliamentary protests, later uploaded to a far-right channel, was an employee of one of their subcontractors.

The video was taken from the top of Bowen House, which is part of the Parliamentary precinct and provided office space to MPs, ministers and other Parliament staff until it was closed for development recently.

On February 9, the protest video was posted by Action Zealandia, a far-right group with the caption: "Look how many of the police are there to guard the wasp next when Cindy feels rattled. If only they used half as much of their resources on fighting actual crime".

The video was unearthed by Paparoa, an anti-racism organisation.

On Friday, LT McGuinness, the firm which is overseeing the redevelopment of Bowen house discovered the person who posted the video was an employee of one of their contractors.

"We have been advised that the subcontractor's employee who posted the video is no longer on site," said the firm, in a statement.

They did not name the employee.

This Action Zealandia video was taken from LT McGuinness's construction site in Bowen House. This is the building providing secure access for staff to the Beehive.
We have spotted Action Zealandia members joining the protest in the evening. pic.twitter.com/aEXhCLnEa8

— Paparoa (@Paparoa3) February 10, 2022

Speaker Trevor Mallard beefed-up security at Parliament after the video was published, shutting Bowen House off from the rest of the precinct by securing the tunnel that connects Bowen House with the Beehive.

Mallard refused to comment on the latest development, including what level of swipe card access the contractor might have had when they worked on the Parliament precinct.

It is possible to limit access to very discrete parts of Parliament, meaning the likelihood the person would have come across any politicians would have been rare.

However, large parts of Parliament are currently undergoing building works, including a portion adjacent to the Beehive Theatrette and press gallery offices, and a short walk from the debating chamber.