The head of the Maori Council says the impasse at Ihumātao is a broader issue than a dispute over historic Maori land.

Thousands of protesters have descended on the South Auckland site, buoyed now the Prime Minister's stepped in to pause planned housing development.

Maori Council head Matthew Tukaki told the Weekend Collective we need to have a broader national discussion about the pressures of population growth.

"This is not just a Maori issue. This is very much an issue for all New Zealanders to say what is the future of our country when it comes to population density, where we should be building, and what sites should we be protecting for future generations."

He says that the land is significant to all New Zealanders, and likens building houses here as akin to demolishing Auckland Town Hall to build a casino. 

"This may be a Maori protest, but there is a broader national discussion to be had around planning and discussion by-laws." 

Tukaki says that successive governments have stuffed this up, but it dates back to the initial confiscation of the land in the 1860s. 

Former MP Hone Harawira told the Weekend Collective that he expects that the protesters will remain on the site for some time. 

"I don't think it's a case of winning or losing," he says, but he would like to see the Government and Fletchers come to a deal to return the land to other people.

He thinks the Government could give Fletchers other land around the country in return for the land.