Jacinda Ardern says she didn't think "too much" of it after the car she was in was forced onto the kerb when anti-vaxxers shouted at her and chased her vehicle.
In Paihia last week, the van the Prime Minister was travelling in was the target of abuse. A group of people started filming and yelling at the van, saying "shame on you" and "we do not consent".
The video was shot on the Paihia waterfront and posted to social media last week and shows the Mercedes V-Class van attempting to pull out onto the main road. The hecklers were filming from inside a car, and as the Prime Minister's vehicle went to leave, the group attempted to block it in a car park. This forced the van up onto the footpath so it could drive out.
One woman pursuing Ardern says "this is fun - we're on a chase", before a man says the group just wanted "a few words" with the Prime Minister.
Both the Prime Minister's Office and the police didn't comment to Newshub, saying they don't discuss her security arrangements.
On Tuesday afternoon, Ardern was asked about the incident at her post-Cabinet press conference. She says she didn't think too much of what happened and it was "just another day".
"We are in an environment at the moment that does have an intensity to it that is unusual for New Zealand. But I do also believe that with time it will pass," she says.
Ardern believes the shouting she received is a reflection of her being a decision-maker.
"If people don't like the decisions that are being made then it's us that will hear the feedback about that, but that's not unusual."
But she says she wasn't concerned about the safety of herself or those she was with at all while she was getting yelled at.
It isn't the first time Ardern's been targeted by protesters who are opposed to the Government's COVID-19 response. In November, a press conference she was holding was hijacked by one person who was singing and chanting over Ardern as she attempted to talk, and then another jumped in to ask if she could name the woman who died after receiving the COVID-19 vaccine.
Ardern then had to cancel a visit to a vaccination clinic in Whanganui the following day after hundreds of anti-vaccine protesters gathered outside.
