Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern says solving the protest at Ihumātao is not as easy as opposition leader Simon Bridges makes it out to be.
Hundreds of people are currently occupying land in Ihumātao, fighting a planned 480-house subdivision that will be built on land believed to be sacred.
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Bridges called on the Government to send the protesters on the land home, accusing it of failing to show leadership.
"The fact that the Prime Minister has halted the building, she's allowed things to escalate. Yes it was happening before but she's given it a profile and significance," he told Newshub on Sunday.
But Ardern said on Tuesday the situation is a lot more nuanced than Bridges understands it to be.
"Simon just wants the problem to go away," she told The AM Show.
"Being Government is hard, sometimes there will be difficult issues that aren't black and white. That's why we're trying to get people around the table to find a solution.
"He can take his perspective, but... I just actually think sometimes things aren't as straightforward as you'd like them to be from opposition."
She reaffirmed that the people occupying the land have a right to protest and the Government won't be moving them on.
Instead, she's trying to support the work the Kīngitanga is doing to try and find a solution to the issue.
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But protesters won't see Ardern visiting the site any time soon.
"I don't have a set plan to do that because at the moment where would that take us?" she said.
"Question for me is what do they want us to achieve right now? They want a resolution. Does me going down and having a visit get a resolution? No."
Newshub.
