Mallard withdraws trespass orders related to Parliament protest

Trevor Mallard. Photo: Getty Images
Trevor Mallard. Photo: Getty Images
Parliament's Speaker Trevor Mallard has withdrawn five trespass orders - including New Zealand First Leader Winston Peters and Democracy NZ leader Matt King's.

To date, 151 trespass notices have been issued in relation to the illegal occupation at Parliament. Of those, 144 were for people arrested during the occupation.

Seven notices have been issued to persons of interest - five of those have since been withdrawn as the persons are now thought unlikely to seriously offend or incite others to commit serious offences.

"The advice I have received is that it is no longer necessary to retain trespass notices for these five people," he said in a statement this afternoon," Mallard said in a statement this afternoon.

The other two notices issued to people not arrested remain in force, Mallard said.

Former Deputy Prime Minister and New Zealand First Leader Winston Peters said in a statement his trespass notice had been withdrawn.

Winston Peters. Photo: Getty Images
Winston Peters. Photo: Getty Images

Democracy NZ leader Matt King told RNZ his notice was also withdrawn.

Mallard confirmed further trespass notices could be issued for people arrested or "deemed by Parliamentary Security as likely to reoffend in a serious manner".

He said he had been working with police and Parliamentary Security to constantly assess threats to Parliament, and the meeting of the Parliamentary Service Commission last night established a general consensus that former MPs should be treated the same as other members of the public.

"The question then is what is a proportionate response in light of the time since the occupation and serious criminal offending.

"The behaviour of some individuals was clearly more egregious than others, and on that basis it has been relatively easy to identify those persons issued with trespass notices who no longer are regarded as being a risk to the safety and security of others at Parliament."