15 November 2024 - Email from Wellington City Council

Kia ora koutou,     

Hīkoi mō te Tiriti has organised a peaceful hīkoi to Parliament from Northland and the South Island, arriving in Pōneke next Tuesday 19 November to demonstrate against the Principles of the Treaty of Waitangi Bill and related issues. 

NZ Police are leading the overall response to the hīkoi. WCC has stood up a response team working with Police, mana whenua and other agencies to support a safe and peaceful event here in Pōneke. The Council’s overall objective is to look after manuhiri (guests in the city), our people and our city.   

While exact numbers aren’t known, it is likely we will see thousands of people coming to Pōneke to exercise their right to peacefully demonstrate. This means there will be lots of extra people and vehicles in Wellington and it may take longer than usual to move around the city. 

There is no information suggesting the visitors here for the hīkoi will stay in Wellington following the event. Organisers continue to emphasise this is a peaceful kaupapa.   

When the hīkoi arrives in Pōneke on Tuesday it will travel from Waitangi Park, along the Golden Mile, to Parliament (see below for an indicative timeline for the day and please note these details may change). There will be a strong Police presence supported by Māori Wardens. 

While NZ Police is leading the public communications and will release information closer to the hīkoi arriving in Wellington, we are contacting stakeholders across the city about our arrangements.   

We are creating a webpage on our WCC site for hīkoi information– wellington.govt.nz/hikoi. The site will be live on Friday 15 November and will be a ‘one-stop’ to provide information to Wellingtonians and hīkoi participants. 

We have attached a FAQ document to this email. Please visit our website from 15 November and see social media pages for information. We will be back in touch if we have any further updates. 

Ngā mihi, 

Jenny Chetwynd 
Tātai Heke Waihanga | Chief Infrastructure Officer | Infrastructure and Delivery | Wellington City Council