Jacinda Ardern won’t voice opinion on Speaker’s protest tactics as Opposition accuses Trevor Mallard of ’embarrassing’ behaviour – Newshub

But the sound hasn't deterred the protesters, who remain there on Monday. Many were videoed on Sunday dancing and singing along to Mallard's music.

National's COVID-19 Response spokesperson Chris Bishop called the Speaker's behaviour "unedifying, embarrassing and ineffective".

ACT's Seymour said he doesn't agree with how the protest has been carried out, but called Mallard's actions "pathetic" and said New Zealand deserves a more mature Speaker.

"Not only are Mallard's antics immature, not only are they ineffective, they have made a serious situation much worse. His petty behaviour has only encouraged the protesters further. Mallard needs to tell us whether he sought police advice before taking these actions."

Seymour questioned why the Prime Minister was "MIA" over the weekend, creating "a vacuum for Trevor".

The Prime Minister on Monday said politicians shouldn't get involved in how protesters are handled.

"I am not going to get into the way of managing a protest in its totality. Those, ultimately, very clear distinctions. I am going to be careful to make sure that I am not making judgements around the way we deal with protest at Parliament. It is a dangerous place to be when politicians dictating the way that police might choose to deal with them."

She didn't want to "legitimise" those protesting at Parliament.

"If this were a protest that was solely around the policies that are being used to manage a pandemic, then why is it that every journalist who stands out on that forecourt is being hurled abuse about telling the truth. There are signs calling for the execution of politicians.

"There is more than just an anti-vax rhetoric amongst some that are strong. I wouldn't want to, for a moment, legitimise some of what I have seen down there, because some of it is pure misinformation around the role of vaccines and indeed some people seem to believe we are mandating the vaccine of children, when clearly that is not true."

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Jacinda Ardern won't voice opinion on Speaker's protest tactics as Opposition accuses Trevor Mallard of 'embarrassing' behaviour - Newshub