National's Simon Bridges and Labour's David Parker are both backing protesters' right to have their voices heard but suggest there is a line that shouldn't be crossed.
Police and Parliament security are on high alert on Friday as a group called NZUnite begins what it says will be a 14-day protest against COVID-19 restrictions and government "coercion".
Unlike the 23-day protest that took over Parliament's grounds and surrounding streets in February and early March, this demonstration will apparently move between different locations across the two-week period. The first site of protest on Friday will be the Pukeahu National War Memorial in central Wellington.
But authorities aren't taking any chances, erecting fences around Parliament's grounds, which are still recovering from the mayhem that unfolded there earlier in the year.
"I think people have got a right to protest. They don't have a right to block roads. How that is enforced is up to the police," Parker told AM on Friday morning.
"I am a bit intrigued. Will the tin foil hats come back? I mean, it is April 1. It does feel a wee bit like 'are we there yet, are we there yet?'. The vaccine passes go next Tuesday, most of the mandates are now gone. We still need them in the health sector, the rest homes and our prisons. These people would oppose that as well, so we disagree."
Bridges, who is about to retire from Parliament, has similar views.
"There is a bit of a sense of déjà vu. I don't actually often, but I went out for a bit of a walk around Parliament and the grass is just starting to grow. So it's a bit sad for the poor old grass if they come back. My understanding is the Speaker and police are going to fence things off so they won't be getting in there," the National MP said.
"I'm a bit like David, probably a bit more on that right to protest side, that to me is incredibly important. Then on the other side of it, the problem is, look actually, we don't want the plumbing and the toilets and the overnights and the violence."
Police said this week they are prepared for the demonstrators.
"Wellington District staff are working to determine the credibility of the information and plan for any possible gatherings or activity," a spokesperson said.
"Any behaviour that is deemed unlawful or disrupts people from going about their lawful business will not be tolerated."
NZUnite's website describes the group as "reasonable, rational, everyday Kiwis" who recognise "that the devastating effects of the COVID-19 response are far-reaching and far from over".
"We need to be vigilant - now, more than ever and surge forward with the momentum, passion and inexhaustible determination that we have amassed together toward unified and measurable goals," it says.
"If you have been affected by, or are concerned about Government overreach, police brutality, misinformation, coercion and their relation to the COVID-19 response, then we stand with you."
The group argues that while mandates are being removed from certain workforces from April 4, the ability to impose them remains in legislation.
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced last week that mandates would be removed from most public sectors and close contact businesses, excluding in healthcare, the aged care sector, Corrections and MIQ.
Ardern has rejected suggestions the Government is removing the mandates due to pressure from the protesters at Parliament, saying it was always the plan once case numbers began to decline from their peak. She doesn't believe the removal will embolden similar protest activity.
"It certainly shouldn't, because that's not the basis of the decisions we've made. I made it clear right here in this theatrette that when we came to the point where we would remove passes and make changes to mandates, it would be because it's safe to do so; not because anyone arrived on the front lawn of Parliament."
Modelling presented by Ardern at the time showed cases beginning to trend downwards around April 4, when the mandates come to an end. That appears to be the case, with the seven-day rolling average of cases falling over the last week.
