There were ugly scenes outside Parliament on Saturday with opposing groups of protesters yelling racist slurs and accusations of Nazism at each other.
The clashes occurred after a National Front group chose the New Zealand Land Wars memorial day to march to the Beehive as part of their 'flag day' protest.
However, anti-racism protesters caught wind of the plan and set up their own counter-protest outside Parliament.
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Hundreds of protesters including Green MPs Golriz Gaharaman and Marama Davidson gathered for the Aukati Stop Racism Rally.
Around six protesters members reportedly made their way to Parliament in pairs, while a further 10 waited at Wellington's railway station nearby.
"We're not racist, we're a bicultural organisation. We support Winston Peters, we got him into power for you," said National Front member.
"I can't be racist if I'm Māori myself," added another, whose face was decorated with a solitary tattoo of a Nazi swastika.
In footage recorded by a Newshub camera operator, another protester became unhappy with a counter-protester's anti-fascism flag and yelled vulgar abuse at him.
"Do you want that flagpole shoved up your f**kin arse, you f**king n**ger-loving prick!"
"Yeah I am," the protester responded, "So f**k you, you Nazi f**k."
The National Front protesters were surrounded by counter-protesters chanting "refugees are welcome, racists are not", and chased back to the railway station.
Some small fights broke out but police quickly intervened before anything serious could occur, surrounding the protesters and escorting them away.
Ms Gaharaman spoke to the assembled crowd and thanked them for taking part in the protest, using her experience as a human rights lawyer overseas to condemn racism.
"I would like to thank you for being here today and standing with the people who are voiceless, who have been silenced, who have all of that internalised self-hate that comes with knowing that you live in a community where race supremacy still exsists, where people tell us that we're not 'Kiwi enough'," she said
"I am uniquely placed to tell you how those things start, how a genocide starts - I've had to investigate that.
"It starts like this, it starts with dehumanising language, it starts with an idea of, you know, second-class citizens - it's dangerous."
After the protest, she tweeted: "So-life affirming to stand with Marama Davidson and all the others who stood strong for our values: equality, inclusion and diversity".
Newshub.
