Thousands of pieces of confetti rained down on Parliament's debating chamber during question time as an activist group protested the Trans Pacific Partnership trade deal.

The group Real Choice dumped the red pieces of paper bearing the words "No TPPA" over the House, while Environment Minister Nick Smith was speaking today.

However, both Mr Smith and the Speaker appeared unfazed by the interruption and appeared to laugh off the protest.

Real Choice spokesperson Rowan Brooks said: "We felt it was important to let our politicians know just how out of touch they are with most Kiwis on this issue, which is why this afternoon we released thousands of pieces of paper onto their heads, representing the thousands of votes we received against the TPP.

"Today we delivered democracy to parliament."

The paper represented over 12,000 votes against the trade deal in a recent online survey, the group said.

National MP Paul Foster-Bell responded on Twitter calling the protesters a "disgrace".

"Their foolishness just makes it harder for law abiding public to come and see #NZQT (New Zealand Question Time)."

Labour's Chris Hipkins echoed that sentiment and said: "I would hate to see idiots prompt security lockdowns like they have elsewhere."