The protest at Parliament is into its third week and despite the police slowly pushing it in to a more confined area there is no sign of it ending.
The village of tents has become a symbol of societal divisions emerging out of the pandemic and other government policies.
We’ve decided to give one group – who are vaccine- and mandate-focused – their say. It is only one group, not the various others whose actions around this have been well documented in threats, harassment, clashes with the police, anti media, and anti semitism.
READ MORE FROM NEWSROOM:
* Marc Daalder: ‘Splintered realities’ – How NZ convoy lost its way
* The Detail podcast: On the ground at the Parliament protest
* Vaccine mandates: Government to fight fire with science in High Court
* Three years on, Muslims see familiar hate messages in Parlt occupation
* Clashes a catalysing moment for NZ’s fringe
* Prof Tanya Notley: How media literacy can fight misinformation
* Prof Nicholas Agar: Protests show we must boost cognitive herd immunity
These are the actual people core to the protest’s cause and movement from a small but not insignificant minority of Kiwis who feel marginalised by government orders. Who are they, what do they say has gone on, and how do they say it ends?
Melanie Reid talks to the leaders of Voices for Freedom who say they represent more than half of the protesters at Parliament.
The group, headed by three Auckland mums, says it raised $90,000 for the successful high court challenge that saw the vaccine mandate for police and defence staff quashed on Friday afternoon.
