Māori Party co-leader Rawiri Waititi says he doesn’t support the recent occupation of Parliament, but continues to believe vaccine mandates should be scrapped.
Waititi says it was wrong for tino rangatiratanga flags to fly alongside Confederate flags and those of former US President Donald Trump.
However, he says Government mandates "should not have happened".
"There should have been a wider discussion with marae, with iwi, who actually had their own processes in place.”
Former co-leader Marama Fox attended the protests, while party founder Dame Tariana Turia also voiced her support.
Waititi says he "can’t control past leaders of our movement”, and that he was uncomfortable with much of the rhetoric coming out of the protests.
However, he says he is on the same page as the former leaders on mandates.
A major reason for Waititi in not meeting with the protesters was because of the threats being made against politicians, and he says his whānau asked him not to meet with protesters.
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