Today's gathering was part of a nationwide movement, Toitū Te Tiriti, which opposes the coalition government's Treaty Principles Bill.
The bill will be debated in Parliament this week and seeks to define the principles of the Treaty of Waitangi.
The southern hīkoi began from Bluff yesterday, the same day as the main hīkoi left from Cape Reinga in the Far North.
Speakers in the Octagon, including Te Pati Māori Te Tai Tonga MP Tākuta Ferris and former Dunedin mayor Aaron Hawkins, were supported with waiata after their addresses.
Mr Ferris said the Treaty Principles Bill was unjust and New Zealand could not thrive under it.
"The government could not continue to run the country like a business," he said.
'Corporate and governance are not the same set of skills."
