House – The price of protests in Parliament is two cents. There are protests every week, sometimes every day. They range from a one-man vigil to several thousand people cheering on calls coming from overloaded loudspeakers. Hīkoi was a completely new category.

Photograph: VNP / Phil Smith

To get a sense of the scale of the event, consider this photo of the crowd in Parliament grounds. Now imagine this was a photo taken before the hīkoi arrived in Parliament. When Hīkoi started arriving, he more than doubled the crowd.

Photograph: VNP / Phil Smith

Hīkoi participants were well informed about the course of Parliament. The people I spoke to were opposing policies and events they were familiar with, not abstractions. This doesn’t always apply to protesters. The poster in the photo is a stylized depiction of Te Pāti Māori MP Hana-Rawhiti Maipi-Clarke tearing up the Treaty Principles Bill at the beginning of the haka last week.

Photograph: VNP/Louis Collins

This banner captures Speaker Gerry Brownlee’s reaction to the same protest in the chamber. Parliament’s own rules for TV broadcasts require cameras to focus on the chair (i.e. the Speaker) when a ‘disturbation’ occurs in the chamber. The disadvantage of this is that the Speaker’s response to events may be inherently tied to the event.

Photograph: VNP/Louis Collins

Whether MPs step out in protest (as some Labor, Green and Te Pāti Māori MPs did) or stand out at the front of the chamber (as some National, ACT and NZ First MPs did), they are not oblivious to the events. It’s happening outside. Here, Speaker Gerry Brownlee watches the protest from the tiles of Parliament House. As speaker (and therefore host), he received regular updates from both building security and the police.

Photograph: VNP / Phil Smith

Another potential sign of political awareness was the very large flags representing both the Mongrel Mob and Black Power; It was bigger than I’ve seen at previous protests. There was no shortage of patched members either. Hīkoi ended two days before new legislation that will ban gang groups in public places comes into force. However, these public places will not include Parliament grounds.

Photograph: VNP / Phil Smith

By the time Hīkoi itself came into view at the northern end of Lambton Quay, Parliament’s grounds already contained more people than anyone I spoke to could remember.

Photograph: VNP / Phil Smith

People were already finding any location they could, whether it was on a steep slope, on a fence, or somewhere in the gardens where there were no plants. These were people who realized they had little chance of getting any closer. They’re barely in the field and on a hillside facing completely the wrong direction.

Photograph: VNP / Phil Smith

They were looking for places among the trees where they could see what was happening, even if they couldn’t hear what was being said from this distance.

Photograph: VNP / Phil Smith

While a large flag was coming up the stairs, I was trying to find my way through the crowd in the opposite direction. It was extremely difficult and incredibly slow. The Parliament has many walls and very few (mostly narrow) gates.

Photograph: VNP / Phil Smith

Two ambulances were parked on Bowen Street in case they were needed, but it was very difficult to reach those in need. I came across an old woman who had collapsed from the heat and being crushed; he was taking care of his fellow protesters; One of them was reporting the woman’s vital condition to the ambulance service on the phone. The scene was outside the Parliament building but it would have been difficult to move it. If an incident had occurred that sent the crowd into a panic, the stampede would likely have been disastrous as people were surrounded by walls rather than exits.

Photograph: VNP / Phil Smith

Toitu te Tiriti was the hīkoi’s motto and the most common banner (apart from the abundance of Tino Rangatiratanga and Te Kara flags). One of the best parts of any protest is how creative people get with their signs. Tarantino might be pleased to know how many ‘Kill the Bill’ banners there are.

Photograph: VNP / Phil Smith

David Seymour (whose bill was it) and Christopher Luxon (who agreed to include it in the coalition agreement) were treated roughly equally on the signs.

Photograph: VNP / Phil Smith

As you can imagine, the signs were not complementary.

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