List of protests in New Zealand

This list is incomplete; you can help by adding missing items. (December 2018)

This is a list of protests in New Zealand.^[1]

The Treaty of Waitangi was between the Māori and the British Crown and was first signed in 1840.

Year	Day	Name	People	Location	Notes	Image
1844–1845		Hōne Heke's protests[2]	1	Russell	Protest against the British Crown by repeatedly chopping down flag pole. Eventually leading to the New Zealand Wars.
1845–1872		The New Zealand Wars		North Island	A series of conflicts between the British crown, its allies and various Maori tribes.
1881	5 November (invasion of government troops)	Parihaka pacifist settlement		Taranaki	Pacifist settlement invaded by government troops and many prisoners taken without trial.
1898		Dog Tax War[3]		Northland	Threat of armed civil disobedience over disproportionate taxation.
1975	13 October	Māori Land March	5000	Auckland	March from Northland to Wellington to increase public awareness.[4]
1977–1978	ended 25 May	Bastion Point protest[5] (Ngāti Whātua land claim)		Auckland	Police and army personnel removed 222 people
1984		Kia Ora Incident	1		Fired after insistence on using the greeting Kia Ora.
2004		Foreshore and seabed Hīkoi		Nationwide	Protest over the seabed and foreshore being declared public land.
2004		Tim Selwyn axe protest[6]	1	Auckland	Charged with sedition
2006	6 February	Waitangi protest[7]		Northland
2007	15 October	New Zealand police raids		Ruatoki and throughout the country	Several people charged as terrorists, but not found guilty for that offence. Extensive protest over the police handling of the investigation.
2014		New Zealand war memorial day petition[8]	12,000[9]	Nationwide	Petition to raise awareness of the New Zealand wars by creating a memorial day
2023	5 December 2023	Government policy protest		North Island	A Te Pāti Māori organised protest regarding the National-led government policy changes.
2024	10-19 November 2024	Hīkoi mō te Tiriti		North Island	[10]

Year	Day	Name	People	Location	Notes	Image
1959–1972		Save Manapouri campaign[11]	264,907 signed (1970)	Southland, nationwide	Largely successful in reducing the effect on the lake
1960's-1980's		Nuclear-free protests[12]		Nationwide
2001	September	Anti genetic engineering	10,000	Auckland	resulting in a moratorium
2004–2007		Save Happy Valley Coalition		West Coast	Anti coal mine protests
2004–2007		Marsden B protest		Northland
2010	2 May	Opposing mining on conservation land	40,000	Auckland	One arrest made

This list contains notable protests against employers ether for the disruption caused or their results on society and working conditions. It also includes protests against the government when it is in the role of an employer. As in a ten-year period from 2005–2015 there were an average of 25 strikes a years this list does not seek to cover every such protest.,^[13]

Year	Day	Name	People	Location	Notes	Image
1890	Ended 10 November	Maritime strike[14]		Ports around the country and Australia	First nationwide strike
1908		Blackball strike[15]		West Coast
1913–1914		The Great Strike[16]	14,000-16,000 on strike	Started in Huntly coal mines and Wellington port	Unionists against employers
1943	25 February	Featherston prisoner of war protest and massacre	240 (49 killed, 70 wounded)	Wellington	Japanese prisoners of war refused to work and may have rioted.[17]
1951	13 February to 15 July	Waterfront dispute[18]		Nationwide
1978		Mangere Bridge dispute[19]		Auckland
1979		General strike[19]	300,000 (max)	Nationwide
2006		supermarket workers’ dispute[20]		Nationwide
2008		Junior doctors’ strike[20]		Nationwide

Year	Day	Name	People	Location	Notes	Image
1879		Orange ‘riot’[21]		Timaru and Christchurch	Sectarian unrest
1893		Women's suffrage petition[22]	32,000 signatures		Women's suffrage followed late that year
1908	November	No License Campaign		Dunedin
1916	November			Blackball	miners went on strike to oppose military conscription.[23]
1917	October	Paddy Webb	1	West Coast	Webb, a Member of Parliament, opposed conscription and when called up refused military service. He was court-martialled and sentenced to two years' hard labour and his seat was declared vacant.[23]
1943	3 April	Battle of Manners Street[24]	1000 (total)	Wellington	Some of the American servicemen from the American South in the Services Club objected to the presence of Māori soldiers.
1971		Anti-Vietnam War protest[25]	35,000	Nationwide
1973	24 March	Battle of Harewood[26][27]	23 arrests	Harewood Airport and the nearby Weedons Stores Depot	People from Citizens for Demilitarisation of Harewood, Campaign Against Foreign Control of Aotearoa and Anti-Bases Campaign, invaded two Operation Deep Freeze air defence bases. The violent clashes were the first anti-spy base demonstration in NZ and could be viewed as a forerunner to the Waihopai Station arrests
1977	May and December	Abortion-rights marches[28][29]		Wellington and Christchurch	Protest against the amendment to the Contraception-Sterilisation and Abortion Bill
1981		Springbok tour		Nationwide
1985		Coalition of Concerned Citizens[30][31]	800,000 signatures (claimed)		Opposition to the Homosexual Law Reform Act 1986
2003	February	Anti Iraq War[32]	10,000	Auckland and Wellington
2004	August	Enough is Enough march[33]	10,000	Wellington	Brian Tamaki led this protest upholding family values, and opposing the government's proposed Civil Union Bill devaluing the traditional institution of marriage
2005		Black caps tour of Zimbabwe[34]
2008	April	Ploughshares Aotearoa[35]	3	Waihopai Station
2009		New Zealand Internet Blackout
2011		SlutWalk[36]		Auckland and Wellington
2011		Occupy movement		Major centres	Protests in the wake of the 2008 economic crises.
2012		Against gay marriage[37]	250
2018	26 July	Abortion availability[38]		Wellington
2022	Sunday, 6 February	Thousands protest against the vaccine mandates at the parliament grounds in Wellington and Picton		Welllington and Picton
2024	Sunday, 23 October	Protests against government policies over worker's rights		All of New Zealand	[39]

• COVID-19 protests in New Zealand

• List of environmental protests
• List of massacres in New Zealand
• List of protests in the United States by size