Brian Tamaki ain't backing down, the Harbour Bridge protest is still on
Brian Tamaki has not taken a single step backwards. In fact, he has doubled down, locked in the date, and made it clear that the 31 January 2026 march across the Auckland Harbour Bridge is happening. Whether people like him or loathe him, he is right about one thing. In New Zealand, the right to protest does not require a permit. That right belongs to everyone, not just the groups the media approves of.
While officials continue to stall and NZTA tries to wrap protests in the same red tape used for commercial events, Tamaki is simply stating the legal reality. A protest is a protest, and in this country people are allowed to gather, march, speak, and demonstrate, whether that march starts in Aotea Square or crosses a piece of state infrastructure.
But instead of focusing on that, mainstream media outlets are once again trying to reduce his message to a cartoon version of itself. They keep repeating the same line that Brian Tamaki is “anti immigration,” when his statements spell out the issue clearly. He is talking about mass immigration, not immigration in general.
This is exactly the same trick they pulled during the March for Australia. Tens of thousands of people turned out because they were fed up with governments opening the floodgates and letting population growth run ahead of housing, hospitals, infrastructure, jobs, and national identity. Those people were labelled anti immigrant, racist, xenophobic, far right. Anything to avoid saying the obvious. People were protesting mass immigration that overwhelms a country’s capacity. Not the simple existence of immigration itself.
Here we are again. Same pattern. Same framing. Same intellectual dishonesty.
Tamaki’s latest message lays it out in plain sight. His event, branded 31 JAN – KEEP NZ, NZ, is a pushback against the pace and scale of population change. A pushback against young Kiwis being priced out of their own country. A pushback against roads, beaches, suburbs, and schools bursting at the seams. He lists it all.
The classic Kiwi road trip - now a slow crawl on jam-packed highways.
Beaches, bush tracks, and picnic spots - overcrowded and losing the quiet Kiwi vibe.
Homes for young Kiwis - gone, priced out by offshore buyers and mass demand.
Safe small-town NZ - now feeling foreign and unfamiliar.
Kids walking to school safely - replaced by congested, unsafe suburbs.
Backyard living - squeezed out by high-density housing.
The old Kiwi work ethic – locals overlooked for imported cheap labour.
Kiwi hospitality - replaced by transient, fast-moving populations.
Neighbourhood BBQs - dying out as families can’t afford meat.
The classic Kiwi summer - now overcrowded, overpriced, and unrecognisable.
Kiwi values being pushed aside by endless “multiculturalism first” politics.
You do not need to agree with his politics or who he is as a person to acknowledge the reality. This is not an anti immigration protest. It is an anti mass immigration protest. There is a difference, although the media refuses to admit it.
Tamaki puts it bluntly. “More people equals more demand equals higher prices.” Whether people think his solutions are right or wrong, the problem he identifies is very real to the families queueing at Pak’nSave wondering how cheese became a luxury.
This is why the march is happening.
This is why he is refusing to step aside.
This is why he is marching on 31 January 2026.
On that day, thousands intend to gather for the NZ Day March and cross the Auckland Harbour Bridge. Whether NZTA likes it or not, whether Police try to dissuade it or not, and whether the media wants to frame it honestly or not, Tamaki has made his position clear. It is a protest, it is lawful, and they are marching.
“Mark it. Share it. Stand for it. Cross the bridge with us,” he says.
Love him or hate him, Brian Tamaki is not backing down. And unless the law suddenly changes between now and 31 January, neither is his right to protest.
I have said it before, but I suffer from some intense road rage. I hate my commute being any slower than it should be, I can’t stand shit drivers, and I can’t stand state highways being blocked, but that is their right to protest.
