A "no tent" notice has been served to anti-vaccine mandate protesters gathered on Parliament's lawn.
Cars were abandoned as thousands of people made their way to the Beehive in a bid to end vaccine mandates and COVID-19 restrictions on Tuesday.
But Speaker of the House Trevor Mallard has had enough. Mallard issued protesters with a notice ordering those camping to pack up or risk being trespassed.
The notice orders protesters to "disperse from the grounds in an orderly manner". It also warns against mounting Parliament's main steps or interfering with people trying to enter or exit.
The notice also says no tents may be erected and reminded protesters Parliament's grounds are alcohol and smoke free.
"The breach of the above policies and failure to carry out the actions may result in trespass notices being issued," the letter warned.
It comes after tensions reached boiling point on Tuesday as protesters caused traffic mayhem, clogging the streets of central Wellington with abandoned cars. Many vowed to camp out on Parliament's lawns for the rest of the week.
The convoy, which drew inspiration from truckers protesting in Canada, travelled from both ends of the country, arriving in the capital yesterday. Once there, many simply gave up on finding a car park, instead abandoning vehicles on main roads.
While the protesters are demanding answers from the Government, the Prime Minister isn't interested in engaging with them.
Jacinda Ardern said the protesters don't represent the majority of Kiwis and "this too will pass" when asked about it at her post-Cabinet press conference.
Ardern used the opportunity to instead talk about the number of people who had been vaccinated so far.
"I know today at 1pm, 31,000 people had gone out and been vaccinated, and so I think it would be wrong to, in any way, characterise what we've seen outside as a representation of the majority," she said.
"The majority of New Zealanders have done everything they can to keep one another safe."
Ardern also thanked the "vast majority" of Kiwis who've made sacrifices throughout the pandemic and have been vaccinated, and she added that "this [the protests] too will pass".
New Zealand has high vaccination rates with 94 percent of Kiwis fully vaccinated and 96 percent partially. More than 1.6 million Kiwis have also received their booster shots.
Just over 200,000 children aged 5 to 11 years old are partially vaccinated too. This age group isn't yet eligible for their second dose.
The majority of district health boards have fully vaccinated more than 90 percent of its eligible residents too, with just Northland, Tairāwhiti, and Whanganui left to hit this target.
A recent poll shows the majority of Kiwis support vaccine mandates for certain workforces. Seventy-four percent support the mandate for teachers, healthcare workers, port, border and prison workers while just 20 percent oppose it and 6 percent didn't know.
