About 1000 people have turned out for an anti-authoritarian rally which ended peacefully outside Parliament House in Wellington, New Zealand.
Convoys from across the country converged in the capital on Thursday for a march and protest organised by the Freedoms and Rights Coalition.
Lead by fundamentalist Christian pastor Brian Tamaki and figures from the far-right Freedoms NZ umbrella political group, the March and Protest of Courage took aim at various causes.
Speakers argued in favour of traditional family values and against sex education in schools, yelling "Hands off our children".
They also railed against rising food and fuel prices, the United Nations, vaccine mandates and leading figures in New Zealand's COVID-19 response, such as former director general of health Sir Ashley Bloomfield.
"Should Ashley Bloomfield have got a knighthood? He should be in jail," one protester said.
Freedoms NZ is standing candidates at the October 14 election, with polls showing the party has the support of one per cent of Kiwis.
The rally was staged by many of the same groups behind the parliamentary occupation in February 2022, when several hundred anti-government protesters held a demonstration and then camped out on parliament grounds for three weeks, refusing to leave.
That occupation ended in violence, with bricks hurled at police, and protesters setting alight their makeshift camp and the parliamentary slide as they were moved on by police.
Fears that Thursday's event would descend into chaos were unfounded, aided by a strong police presence.
Organisers said 80 people travelled from Australia to be part of the protest.
