Wellington District Commander Superintendent Corrie Parnell:

Road closures and parking restrictions will be in place in areas around Parliament grounds, from 10pm Sunday evening as Police plan ahead for an anticipated protest next week.

The Freedom Rights Coalition, which has led protest activity in Auckland and Christchurch recently, is planning a protest in Wellington on Tuesday, 23 August. As with other locations, Police is aware a counter-protest group is also planning to gather near Parliament.

A Traffic Management Plan is in place to restrict unauthorised vehicle movement and parking around Parliament from Sunday evening until the conclusion of the protest.

Road closures will be in place at the Parliament end of Lambton Quay, lower Molesworth Street, and Kate Sheppard Place.

Police is asking commuters and people who work or move through the area, to plan ahead, and while we anticipate there will be more people in the area, we expect traffic disruption to be minimal.

We acknowledge it is important that people have the right to peaceful protest. However, Police will take action against unlawful behaviour.

We note that other similar protests, particularly in Auckland, while
disruptive to traffic for a short time, did see protesters disperse at the conclusion, with the road quickly returned to normal traffic flows. Our expectation of these protesters is that their protest will remain lawful at all times.

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