'Denial is not a policy' – Thousands call for action on climate change outside Parliament

Thousands of climate strikers packed onto Parliament's lawn today calling for urgent action to tackle climate change. 

In one of the biggest recent protests at Parliament, people lined the footpath outside - with the only room spare a section where a playground is being built. 

Protestors held signs saying, "how dare you", "I want a hot date not a hot planet", "denial is not a policy" and "make the Earth great again".

Protestors of all ages turn up en masse, with organisers estimating about 15,000 would attend the protest as Parliament's lawn looked to almost be at capacity.

MPs present were National's Nick Smith, Labour's Andrew Little, Greg O'Connor and Kelvin Davis, and Green Party's Jan Logie, Gareth Hughes and James Shaw.

Climate Strike founder Greta Thunberg retweeted pictures of protests around New Zealand.

Comparably, in 2004, the Foreshore and seabed hīkoi saw numbers estimated to be between 10,000-30,000.