Parliament fully reopens to public, four months after protests

The grounds of Parliament will reopen to the public today after a ceremony to fully restore the land.

Guests will arrive at the grounds from 12pm to hear speeches from manu whenua and MPs, before a final karakia at 12.40pm.

After the karakia, there will be food, entertainment and tours of the grounds by Parliamentary Service.

It comes four months after Parliament grounds and the surrounding streets of the CBD were overrun with anti-vaccine and anti-mandate protesters who set up tents, cars, vans and trucks – refusing to leave until all Covid-19 protection frameworks were removed.

The protest lasted 23 days and ended in flames after people set fires on the grounds which spread through the playground and lawns.

Two people from Golden Bay have been charged with lighting the fires – Jordan Turner-Critchley, 30, and Sarah Joanne Henry, 29.

They are among 250 people arrested during the protest and police are still seeking further arrests.

Nine people have been prosecuted.

On Wednesday, police asked the public for assistance in identifying 15 people who were at the protest and are suspected of committing criminal acts at the occupation.
Images of the people have been publicly released by police in a bid to help identify the individuals involved.

Detective Inspector Paul Berry said police were reviewing more than 15 terabytes of photographs and videos to identify anyone involved in violent criminal offending.

“This is an enormous task and while we’ve made significant progress through our investigations, we now need the public’s help.”