Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has been gifted a new Zespri kiwifruit stuffed toy after a staffer accidentally smashed the eye of a previous one she had in her office.
Ardern posted on Instagram last month saying she had returned from her trip to Antarctica to find her toy kiwifruit without an eye. She said there would be a "full investigation" into what had happened. NZ Herald later reported press secretary Zach Vickery had outed himself as the culprit.
The Prime Minister is currently in Vietnam on a trade mission and received a new toy from Zespri which has accompanied Ardern to the South East Asia nation.
"You can see on this occasion I have been gifted one with a helmet, which I think is not an accident, but rather good practice," she said.
Vickery, who is travelling with Ardern and the press pack, jokingly said they should wrap up the press conference at that point.
Journalists asked the Prime Minister to pose for a photo with the toy, but she wasn't willing to do it alone.
"I feel like Zach should be in the photo. Zach, come on, come and stand with me," Ardern said.
Vickery said it was "against every press sec rule", but Ardern said it wasn't "because I asked".
You can watch the Prime Minister's full media standup above.
