Protest wedding bells as unvaccinated couple get married at Parliament

What you need to know / Kia mōhio mai koe:

• It’s day 19 of the occupation of Parliament and surrounding streets.
• Protester numbers have swelled following an anti-mandate march, and the arrival of more convoy vehicles.
• On Friday, a senior police officer raised concerns about wellbeing and sanitation at the camp, saying it was “no place for kids”.
• Also on Friday, a High Court judge overturned the vaccine mandate for police and Defence Force personnel.
• The Parliament occupation camp has been deemed a Covid ‘location of interest’.
• A livestream from the protest site is above. Please note some content and language may offend.

Wedding bells have been ringing at Parliament as two protesters tied the knot in front of a large crowd.

Speaking shortly before 3.30pm, the groom told the crowd he and his bride had been together for three years, engaged for two, and had their wedding cancelled several times during that period.

He said they were both unvaccinated, so had been unable to get married at a registry office.

The crowd cheered loudly as the couple thanked them for coming.

READ MORE:
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* ‘No place for kids’: Police officer talks about life on the frontline of the protest

Earlier, police bolstered concrete barriers around the site of the Parliament occupation, as more protest vehicles attempted to join on Saturday afternoon.

Protesters were seen attempting to remove concrete blocks behind the bus station to let vehicles through, but were stopped by police.

A forklift was brought in to place additional concrete blocks near the bus depot and along Mulgrave St, and dozens of vehicles were turned away.

Parts of the convoy appeared to be circling the perimeter, and traffic was being directed through with the help of Māori wardens.

One police officer was seen being treated for scrapes on their elbow, and several protesters were earlier seen fighting. A woman and her two dogs were escorted away by police after she was caught in a scuffle with a man who appeared to have a Mongrel Mob tattoo.

A Stuff reporter at the scene said the crowd later thinned out and calmed down, and several protesters could be seen chatting amicably with police officers.

Earlier, a march through central Wellington was led by motorbikes down Willis St and Lambton Quay, tooting horns and waving banners, before arriving at Parliament grounds to cheers from those already there.

Numbers had been expected to grow on day 19 of the occupation at Parliament grounds, as protesters rejected reports of sickness and squalor at the camp.

Police earlier warned anyone planning to travel to Wellington to join the anti-mandate occupation over the weekend to “think again”.

“While the vast majority of Wellington is open for business and functioning relatively normally, the protest activity around Parliament grounds is unwelcome and having an unreasonably negative impact on residents, workers and students,” said Assistant Commissioner Richard Chambers in a statement on Thursday.

On Friday, an officer working on the frontline who cannot be named because he does not have permission to speak to media told Stuff he was concerned about wellbeing and sanitation at the protest site.

“It’s sad. A majority of these people are disaffected and a lot need mental health support. They aren’t here for the purpose of this protest, a lot are here because they need to feel like they are part of something,” he said.

“We talk to a lot of them here, and it’s sad to see the state of these people, many are incoherent in their ramblings. Some days it feels like we are managing a mental health facility rather than a protest.”

The officer described hygiene at the occupation as nothing short of disgusting. He said it had become almost intolerable to be near protesters because the stench is excruciating.

“I swear those portaloos are not only a health hazard, but they are weapons of mass destruction,” he said.

“The heat, mixed with excrement, body odour, and the lack of hygiene is really sickening to be around. I really don’t know how anyone can live there and not be extremely ill. It is probably the worst protest in terms of personal hygiene I have ever smelt.”

The officer hoped that protesters would consider leaving the protest and taking their families home for their own safety.

“The situation is not safe, there is Covid circulating, sanitary conditions are dire, hygiene is non-existent and the safety of children and the vulnerable are compromised,” he said.

“It really is the kids I’m worried about. I shake my head when I see the children in the middle of this. Take them home.”

A mother pushing her 1-year-old son in a pram early Saturday morning at the occupation site disputed suggestions the camp was unsafe for children.

The woman said she lived nearby so was just spending her days at the protest with her son, although she had stayed last night to see what it was like.

“It’s happy. It’s safe. We have a lot of security that look after our children. It’s clean,” she said.

The woman said she had spoken to plenty of other mums, and their children were safe.

There were programmes every day for children. The people who ran them included trained teachers and Plunket nurses.

Parents stayed with their children during the programmes, the woman said. She disputed suggestions parents were dropping their children at the programmes, then going off to do other protest activities.

The protest site has been named as a location of interest by the Ministry of Health, although that has been dismissed by many protesters.

Some protesters believed they were getting ill due to baseless claims of “EMF machines”, “radiation machines” and “technological weapons” being directed at the occupation.

A video posted on Facebook on Thursday under the name Carlene Louise claimed that some anti-mandate protesters were making tin foil hats to protect themselves from illness caused by the “tech weapons”.

Speaking on Saturday morning, protester Rawiri Tekowhai said he was not aware of anyone who had Covid at the camp. “Everyone seems to be healthy and happy,” he said.

“Last week I was here and hugged and kissed just about everybody. Then went back to Rotorua and got a test, and it was negative.”

Kyle Aitken from the central North Island travelled to the protest camp on Thursday to join his wife and four children – aged between 6 and 12 – who have been at the site for the past week.

Aitken, whose wife helped in the medic tent, said he was not aware of anyone at the camp having Covid, and was not concerned at the prospect.

“I don’t know why people would stay here if they’ve got it,” he said.

He said he was opposed to vaccine mandates, although his biggest concern was the speed with which the vaccine had been rolled out.

“We will get the vaccine if it’s all OK,” he said.

His family were staying inside the fenced area at the law school, which was where people with children were being encouraged to stay. Volunteers were keeping an eye on the gates to the area during the night.

He had no problems with his children being at the camp.

“You have to be a parent. You have to be on the lookout, that they are where they’re meant to be,” Aitken said.