Speaker Trevor Mallard says five trespass orders issued in relation to Parliament's grounds are being withdrawn.
A statement from Mallard on Wednesday afternoon doesn't specify which individuals this affects, but former deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters has confirmed the trespass order issued to him has been withdrawn.
It comes after Peters said on Wednesday he would seek a judicial review of the order. Peters visited the parliamentary protest one day in February for a walk-about. Matt King, a former National MP who spoke at the occupation, was also trespassed.
The Speaker said that, to date, 151 trespass notices have been issued in relation to the protest at Parliament.
"Of this number, 144 were for people arrested by Police during the occupation," said Mallard.
"An additional seven notices were issued to persons of interest. Of these, five trespass notices have since been withdrawn as the persons are now thought unlikely to seriously offend or incite others to commit serious offences. The other two notices will remain in force."
Peters said on Wednesday afternoon that it shouldn't have taken the threat of a judicial review for Mallard "to come to his senses and an understanding of the law that he wanted to enforce".
"This whole issue from the start to finish has been an absolute shambles, and has caused a number of people unnecessary anguish and expense."
He claimed that five of the seven persons of interest referenced by Mallard are former MPs.
"This is not, and should not, be a matter of special treatment for former Members of Parliament. This is a matter of fairness and standing up for freedoms and democracy. So where is the accountability for this action?"
Mallard said he has been working with police and Parliament's security to assess "threats to Parliament".
"As has been reported, a meeting last night of the Parliamentary Service Commission established a general consensus that former Members of Parliament should be treated on the same basis as other members of the public," he said.
"Having dealt with that issue, the question then is what is a proportionate response in light of the time since the occupation and serious criminal offending."
The Speaker said the behaviour of some at the protest "was clearly more egregious than others".
"On that basis it has been relatively easy to identify those persons issued with trespass notices who no longer are regarded as being a risk to the safety and security of others at Parliament."
Mallard's move came as pressure mounted on him to look at whether the trespass orders were proportionate.
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said on Wednesday that she had spoken to the Speaker and given him some feedback about differentiating between different forms of participation at the protest.
"The question has to be asked over whether or not some people's behaviour was more egregious than others," Ardern said. "It is a bit different when people are arrested versus just simply attending."
Leader of the House Chris Hipkins said it was a matter for the Speaker but "we've had some conversations over the last 24 hours with him about that and given him some feedback".
"When we talk about proportionate, we need to realise there were people out there hurling bricks at the police and burning down the children's playground. There should be consequences for that kind of behaviour, but there were other people there."
National's Christopher Luxon said it was time to move on, but the buck stops with the Speaker.
"We have been pretty clear. You have got to distinguish between those who have been involved in criminal activity and those who were peaceful. It should be no different between MPs and everyone else."
ACT leader David Seymour called the trespass orders "totally irresponsible". He said nobody should be trespassed but those who were violent or threatening to be in the future.
"Someone who is throwing bricks, of course, throw the book at them. Someone who just came and walked around, it is going to be a disproportionate restriction on their freedoms to trespass them."
In a statement on Tuesday, Peters accused Mallard of "dictatorial behaviour" and said there was a difference between protesters who were "legally" and "peacefully" at Parliament's grounds and those who were "violent and displaying clearly criminal behaviour".
"There is also a difference between those who were on parliamentary grounds taking an active part in the protest - and those who were not," he said.
"Remember the protestors asked me to come and speak with them - as they had asked every single current Member of Parliament who had refused to."
Mallard said more trespass orders could be issued "for persons arrested as part of the ongoing Police investigation, or if they are deemed by Parliamentary Security as likely to reoffend in a serious manner in future".
"Any arrests for arson or other serious offences arising from the occupation are likely to lead to the issue of further trespass notices," he said.
"The law relating to trespass applies to the Parliament grounds. Section 26 of the Parliamentary Services Act 2000 grants the Speaker all the powers of an occupier under the Trespass Act 1980. This allows the Speaker to require persons to leave the grounds or delegate this power to other people such as members of parliamentary security staff."
The Speaker on Tuesday said he had delegated authority to parliamentary security to make decisions over trespass notices. He said in his Wednesday statement that such notices "are not generally issued by the Speaker personally", but by the security team.
But Ardern on Tuesday said the decision was ultimately one for the Speaker.
"I think it is useful for all parties to be able to hear him out on how he came to the decision and make a joint decision, as much as they are able to, on whether or not MPs should be treated differently from everyone else. That's, at the heart of it, the issue."
The anti-vaccine mandate protest took over Parliament's grounds and surrounding streets throughout February and early March. They stayed for weeks despite police, the Speaker and MPs telling them to leave.
