New Zealand’s former deputy prime minister, Winston Peters, has been banned from parliament grounds for two years for visiting anti-vaccine-mandate protesters who occupied the grounds.
The weeks-long February protests, modelled on the Canadian truckers’ “freedom convoy”, took over parliament grounds and blocked off a number of surrounding streets. In the first days of the occupation, the speaker issued a trespass notice to all attendees. But efforts by police to disperse the gathering were repeatedly repelled, until it descended into a violent riot, with at least 40 injured, while tents, piles of rubble and a playground were set aflame.
