[7] On 29 August 2020 in Aotea Square, Auckland there was an anti-lockdown, COVID-19 denying, anti-vaccination, anti-United Nations protest,[8] in which 500 people attended including Advance NZ co-leader Jami-Lee Ross and New Conservative Party deputy leader Elliot Ikilei.

The party's leader Jami-Lee Ross gave a speech claiming that New Zealand's freedoms were being eroded "in the name of the virus" and calling for people to vote for Advance NZ.

Rally participants also sported banners and signs expressing support for US President Donald Trump and attacking 1080 usage, water fluoridation, the Chinese Communist Party, and the United Nations.

The protesters were criticised for flouting lockdown restrictions and endangering public health by ACT Party leader David Seymour and Auckland Council councillors Jo Bartley and Richard Hills.

[28][29][30] In mid-December 2021, The New Zealand Herald reported that Tamaki had ignored text messages from Deputy Police Commissioner Wally Haumaha urging him to ensure that the crowd practised social distancing.

The protest was attended by 100 people including Dunedin City councillor Lee Vandervis, who talked about the effects of lockdown regulations on local businesses, freedom of speech and the pressure to be vaccinated.

In addition, other outdoor "Freedom protests" were planned for Mount Maunganui, Whakatāne, Gisborne, Havelock North, Wellington, Nelson and Christchurch.

[36] On 27 October, 2,000 SHOT protesters converged on Waitangi in solidarity with the Northland-bound anti-lockdown hīkoi that was blocked by Police at Auckland's southern border.

While most of the local marae leaders objected to the presence of the SHOT protesters, they felt obliged by Māori custom to show manaakitanga (hospitality) to the visitors.

[44][45] On 3 November 2021, a crowd of 250 protesters picketed Ardern's media briefing outside a vaccination centre in Whanganui, forcing her staff to move the news conference to a different location.

Voices for Freedom Dunedin coordinator Tracey Pita said the protesters were demonstrating against vaccine mandates for healthcare, education and corrections workers.

Protest organisers have also called for Auckland's borders to be reopened, the whole country to move down to Alert Level 1, and for New Zealand to "learn to live with the virus".

Te Rūnanga ō Ngāti Whātua leader and chief operating officer Antony Thompson criticised the anti-lockdown proesters for disrupting trucks carrying food and medical supplies headed for the Northland Region.

TFRC leader Brian Tamaki had earlier threatened to gridlock traffic in all major centres if the Government refused to lift all restrictions by 12 November.

The TRFC issued four demands for the Government: to remove vaccination mandates immediately, revoke the traffic light system, lift the Auckland borders and move New Zealand to Alert level one.

[63] In Hastings, 100 people marched from Hawke's Bay Hospital to Tukituki Labour Member of Parliament Anna Lorck's office in the city centre.

[66] In addition, similar protests were staged in New Plymouth, Wellington, Gisborne, Whangarei, Rotorua, Hawke's Bay, Nelson, Christchurch and Dunedin.

According to The New Zealand Herald, the rally was connected to an online flyer advertising the "Millions March" travelling from the Auckland Domain to Mercy Hospital.

According to The New Zealand Herald, the protesters consisted of several different factions including Voices For Freedom supporters, those holding United Tribes flags and those opposing the Chinese Communist Party.

[75][76][77] While the protesters were largely peaceful and well-behaved, some participants carried signs calling for the arrest of Prime Minister Ardern and likening her to Nazi Germany and the Christchurch mosque shooter Brenton Tarrant.

[78] Destiny Church leader Brian Tamaki spoke at a rally in Christchurch's Hagley Park to protest against the Government's COVID-19 vaccine mandate and lockdown policies.

[87] Following Tamaki's arrest on 17 January 2022 and subsequent remand in custody, his supporters picketed the Mount Eden Correctional Facility, setting up tents and sounding motorbike horns.

As part of his new bail conditions, Tamaki was barred from organising, participating and supporting future anti-lockdown protests and ordered to remain at home on a 24-hour curfew.

They refused to wear masks, heckled speakers including Labour MP Sarah Pallett and intimidated several attendees, prompting Police to intervene and speak to several demonstrators.

[119] Besides Tait, other speakers at the TFRC-sponsored event included University of Otago computer scientist Iain Hewson and anti-transgender activist Jennifer Scott.

The counter-protesters were led by "queer" artist, composer, and bar co-owner Dudley Benson, who claimed that they were opposing the FRC's alleged promulgation of homophobia, misogyny and White supremacy.

The counter-demonstrators played several queer songs by Lily Allen, ABBA, and Village People on a sound system in an attempt to drown out the TFRC rally.

The paper found that far right online communities in New Zealand and abroad were using various social media platforms particularly Telegram to spread disinformation about COVID-19 vaccines and lockdown policies through the use of memes, emotional testimonies, and Māori motifs and symbols.

"[137][138][139] The Freedoms & Rights Coalition (TFRC) is a self-described "people's movement" founded by Brian Tamaki to oppose the Government's COVID-19 lockdown restrictions and vaccination mandate.

In early November 2021, a Stuff report identified Jenny Marshall, Destiny Church's director of operations and Tamaki's assistant, as the owner of TFRC's web domain.