Hundreds of protesters are sprawled across the Beehive lawn, a sea of tents and upside-down flags. It’s day 11 of the anti-mandate protest and participants are still very much in the fight part of the fight/flight response.
Across the barricades, MPs are refusing to engage with protesters, while the police mostly look as though they’d rather be somewhere else.
Nicola Willis’s third-floor office doesn’t overlook Parliament’s forecourt but if National’s deputy leader crossed the corridor and had really strong binoculars, she could probably see what the protesters were having for lunch.
The 40-year-old exhales loudly when I ask what she thinks about one of the largest demonstrations in recent New Zealand history.
“Our position is that we respect law and order but if people are congesting city streets and abusing others, we’d find it difficult to engage with them. I will say, though, that some people are drowning out others who have a more peaceful message. I also acknowledge people’s concerns about the government’s
