Nationwide Protests, Strikes Herald First Coalition Budget in New Zealand

Motorways have been brought to a halt, roads around Parliament closed, and extra police called in as a day of protest marks the delivery of the Budget.

Protestors march down Queen Street in the Auckland CBD, protesting the Government's policies for Maori ahead of the Budget release in Auckland, New Zealand, on May 30, 2024. Phil Walter/Getty Images

Protest rallies are happening across New Zealand as workers go on strike to protest the “anti-Māori policies” of the Coalition government ahead of Finance Minister Nicola Willis’ first Budget today.

Organised by Te Pāti Māori (the Māori Party), alongside an activist group calling itself Toitū Te Tiriti (Honour the Treaty), said in an online statement that the action was intended to “prove the might of [the Māori] economy by disconnecting entirely from it.”