A person has been carried out of the protest at Parliament on a stretcher through the gates by police and medical staff this afternoon. 

An ambulance was en route to pick up the protester. 

The Herald is seeking more information. 

It follows a protester suffering a medical event on Friday night. Because of the hundreds of vehicles blocking the roads surrounding Parliament, ambulances could not get to him. 

Rain is falling in buckets as protesters continue to flood onto Parliament grounds in their anti-vaccine mandate protest. 

Along with trenches dug to drain the pooling water carpets have been laid along with straw to try and stop Parliament lawn turning into a swamp. 

Despite the rain increasing in intensity protesters have continued to arrive from all across the country, with trucks and vans and campervans blocking even more streets through the CBD. Many are bringing with them ample supplies ranging from food and medical services to sanitary items and even nappies. 

Multiple food stations have been set up and protesters are walking through the crowd distributing food. Speakers have addressed the crowd throughout the day including from the Freedom and Rights Coalition, many of whom arrived on motorcycles, and Ted Johnston, co-leader of the New Conservative political party. 

"Wild, false, dangerous conspiracy theories" 

Deputy Prime Minister Grant Robertson earlier condemned protesters at Parliament, saying they are driven by "wild, false, dangerous conspiracy theories". 

He says he supports the right to protest - but those at Parliament have lost that right due to their actions. 

"When they threaten, harrass and disrupt people and a whole city they lose that right. They have been trespassed, they need to leave." 

He added threats of violence are unacceptable, and understands why police must move the protesters on. 

"Looking down on a protest that wants to hang me as a politician, a sign that compares the Prime Minister to the March 15th terrorist, calls for arrest and execution of me and other leaders you might understand why I believe the police need to move them on." 

There have been no further arrests at Parliament today as a large anti-vaccination and anti-mandate protest continues on to its fifth day on the front lawn. 

Superintendent Scott Fraser confirmed one person was arrested on Friday night for a breach of their bail conditions, and said police will maintain a significant presence at Parliament as they work to find solutions for the disruption the protest is causing. 

These disruptions have been widespread, and in some cases dangerous. On Friday night, a protester suffered a medical event, and because of the hundreds of vehicles blocking the roads surrounding Parliament, ambulances could not get to him. 

Instead, paramedics had to park and walk to the man to get him the medical care he needed. 

Fraser said this creates a "very difficult environment".' 

Police plan to work with tow trucks to try and remove more than 100 vehicles still blocking Molesworth St, but tow truck drivers have been threatened by protesters 

In response to safety concerns, Metlink is stopping all buses from traveling the Lambton Interchange "with immediate effect" and putting detours in place. 

"We have taken this decision with everyone's health and wellbeing at the forefront of our plans and we thank passengers for their patience during this time." 

Reinforcements arrive 

Reinforcements are arriving at Parliament to join trench-digging protesters who are fighting back after a sprinkler-soaked night. 

The number of protesters on site has increased significantly since Friday with at least 1000 people on the front lawn and the surrounding area. 

Protesters performed the haka on Parliament's mud-soaked lawns - despite requests from Ngāti Toa to stay away from it. 

Ngāti Toa condemns the use of the Ka Mate haka at anti-vaccination protests. 

"As the descendants of Te Rauparaha, we insist that protesters stop using our taonga immediately," one of the iwi's leaders, Dr Taku Parai, said. 

"We do not support their position and we do not want our tupuna or our iwi associated with their messages." 

A Herald reporter at the scene says the atmosphere is tense and aggressive, and there are so many people present that just moving through the area is proving challenging. 

Parliamentary security are using forklifts to move concrete barriers into place in front of the crowd as more protesters flood in. 

Security lift concrete barriers into place. Photo / Mark Mitchell 

Protesters are being joined by members of the Freedom and Rights Coalition (FRC)- an organisation with links to Destiny Church leader Brian Tamaki. The group announced on social media its plan to rejoin the protest this morning after walking away two days ago. 

The sound of loud motorbike revving rose above the shouts of the crowd as members of the Freedom and Rights Coalition drove up to the protest, spurring cheers and whistles from the waiting crowd. 

As members of FRC began to speak to the crowd, one protester could be seen shining a laser pointer into the faces of journalists on the balcony above, and another could be heard using duck calls - either to taunt Speaker of the House Trevor Mallard, or try and entice him our of the building. 

FRC has stationed their own people in high-vis vests to control their crowd and try to ensure they do not breach the barriers. 

Men on motorbikes arrive at Parliament. Photo / George Heard 

Clouds of smoke from the motorbikes rose above the grounds of Parliament and a sense of unease is in the air. 

Protesters caked in mud, clad in raincoats and carrying umbrellas are pressed up against the barricades put up in front of Parliament, occasionally yelling at journalists on the media balcony to "tell the truth". 

Newstalk ZB reporter Nick James says protesters have been chanting consistently since the morning, and despite being drenched have persevered in their occupation. 

Despite a soggy start to the fifth day of the anti-mandate protest which is occupying Parliament's front lawn, protesters are this morning periodically breaking into song, with the national anthem being heard over the calls of megaphones. 

More vehicles have already arrived and joined the hundreds that have been blocking the streets near Parliament since Monday. 

As rain continues to fall in the capital, the lawns of Parliament are looking more like a battleground - complete with trenches. 

Speaker of the House Trevor Mallard turned the sprinklers on last night and left them running in an effort to make the protesters uncomfortable, hoping it would make them leave. 

"They're not legally on the ground, so there is no problem adding a little to their discomfort." 

In response, protesters placed cones over the sprinklers and dug irrigation trenches to re-direct the water. 

A Herald reporter says the damage to the front lawn is significant, describing it as a "mud pit". 

The Speaker of the House had sprinklers turned on overnight in an effort to clear the protesters outside Parliament as the occupation enters its fifth day. 

Overnight, some protestors used road cones and their hands to dig trenches in the mud to try to divert water away from their campsites. 

"Parliament is usually concerned with social engineering. But today thank's to Mallard, we've taken to civil engineering," tweeted one protester. 

Protesters have dug trenches to divert water. Photo / Bryce Edwards 

The overall atmosphere in the capital was calmer yesterday than on Thursday, when 120 people were arrested in the protest over issues including vaccine mandates. 

Some police were briefly seen carrying batons yesterday but Wellington District Commander Superintendent Corrie Parnell said officers had stopped doing so by early afternoon. 

He said the officer in charge at the time made a misjudgment in terms of how they were reading the crowd and Parnell had ordered the batons be removed. 

In a statement on Friday night police said there were no further arrests, but trying to engage with the leaders of the protest had been "ineffective" due to the "vast array of interest groups, and their conflicts with each other". 

Police maintained their presence overnight and plan to work with tow trucks to try and remove more than 100 vehicles still blocking Molesworth St. 

Tow truck drivers have been threatened by protesters 

Speaker of the House Trevor Mallard had Parliament's lawn sprinklers turned on in the evening, to soak the lawn under the tents overnight. 

The trenches in the lawn at Parliament. Photo / Bryce Edwards 

"They're not legally on the ground, so there is no problem adding a little to their discomfort," he told 1News. 

Protesters responded by placing cones on top of the sprinklers and put a call out through social media for any plumbers present in the crowd to assist them. 

Meanwhile, MetService has issued a heavy rain warning for Wellington over the weekend as the remnants of Cyclone Dovi hit New Zealand. 

MetService has forecast periods of heavy rain, with up to 200mm expected to accumulate until 3pm tomorrow. 

Four days into the protest, Parnell said the movement was split into factions, with some groups promoting false advice about people's rights and police powers. 

"Police have identified a range of different causes and motivations among the protesters, making it difficult to open clear and meaningful lines of communication," Parnell said. 

"Misinformation, particularly on social media, has been identified as an issue." 

A large marquee was erected and people milled behind barricades, as police blocked everyone from the steps into Parliament. 

Cars from the convoy parked near Parliament. Parking wardens with police escorts began ticketing vehicles on Thursday. Photo / Mark Mitchell 

Molesworth, Aitken and Hill Streets were partly blocked and a donut cart was set up, with other food providers and portaloos established nearby. 

At times, a carnival atmosphere seemed to permeate the grounds, with people dancing and singing. 

Several hundred people gathered on Parliament's front lawn among dozens of tents, despite a trespass notice being served. 

Protesters the Herald spoke to sought to distance the majority of those present from any of the violence seen earlier this week. Some insisted police were the instigators of unrest. 

One pamphlet distributed in the grounds listed nine demands, with the first being an end to all Covid-19 vaccine mandates. 

Another was the abolition of the traffic light pandemic response system. 

Others called for the rejection of "any moves for a society based on digital identity" and the removal of "all restrictive vaccine passports". 

The pamphlet also demanded compensation for people who lost jobs due to vaccine mandates. 

The open letter was labelled "ProFest 22 for Peaceful Change" and its author or authors said they wanted non-violent action and a family-friendly, drug and alcohol-free space. 

In the afternoon, a social media post announced that a second "freedom convoy" was travelling from Gisborne through Bulls and Kāpiti to Wellington. 

Molesworth Street during the occupation at Parliament's nearby lawn. Photo / Mark Mitchell 

By yesterday, 96.2 per cent of eligible New Zealanders aged 12 or older had received at least one vaccine dose, with the vast majority of them double-vaccinated. 

An additional 42.1 per cent had already received booster shots. 

No sitting MPs have consistently or openly endorsed the protests but former Parliamentarians Winston Peters, Rodney Hide and Matt King have voiced some support or sympathies. 

King, a one-term National MP from Northland, said he planned to visit the protest camp. 

Security arrangements in parts of the Parliamentary precinct changed again after video taken of the protests from nearby Bowen House surfaced on social media. 

Video taken from a high vantage point opposite the Beehive was uploaded to a social media channel linked to white nationalist group Action Zealandia. 

Bowen House is supposed to provide access for people working at Parliament. 

"We have seen the video, and the entrance to Bowen House has been closed," Speaker of the House Trevor Mallard said. 

Some protesters reclined on the grass overlooking a large marquee set up on Friday. Photo / Mark Mitchell 

Parnell told Newstalk ZB moving the more than 100 vehicles blocking streets near Parliament had presented a number of issues for police, but it was a "fundamental priority" and they were hoping to clear Molesworth St by Monday. 

Police had tried to engage tow companies but many owners were reluctant to get involved as they had received threats, some from overseas, throughout the day. 

Heavy haulage vehicles from the military had also been considered as another option for shifting the vehicles, he said. 

Yesterday's 446 new community cases vastly outnumbered the 32 recorded at the border. 

Pandemic response minister Chris Hipkins said the 10 millionth dose of the Covid-19 vaccine was administered yesterday afternoon. 

"Ten million vaccines, including more than 1.7 million boosters, means our communities already have a good level of protection against Omicron, with more to come," Hipkins said. 

"Every single one of our DHBs has now reached 90 per cent of their population having received at least one vaccine dose," he added. 

"Kiwis have really pulled together to protect each other with 95 per cent of people aged over 12 now fully vaccinated – one of the highest rates in the world. " 

The Government has indicated surging case numbers would make a move to the country's second phase of the pandemic response more likely in weeks or days ahead. 

The second stage will involve identifying people most at risk of getting severely ill. 

In the first stage, people are told to isolate for 14 days if testing positive, and 10 days if they are a contact. 

In the second phase, isolation terms will reduce to 10 days for cases, and seven days for contacts.