A suspicious package reportedly containing white powder was sent to the office of New Zealand prime minister Jacinda Arden.

       Special fire service units arrived in the parliamentary compound in Wellington on Monday morning after the substance, sent to Ms Arden, was discovered a floor below her office.

       The item was first identified in the mailroom on level eight of the Beehive, which is the executive wing of the government building. Ms Arden was working in her ninth floor office before chairing a midday cabinet meeting on the tenth floor.

       Three separate units, including a hazardous material truck, were positioned behind the parliamentary building to investigate the suspicious item.

       The security scare comes fewer than two weeks since New Zealand police fatally shot a suspected terrorist, who had stabbed at least six people in an Auckland supermarket.

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       It also comes days after Christchurch airport was evacuated following identification of a suspicious package, believed to be a bomb, in a domestic terminal last Thursday.

       The airport, including passengers and staff, was cleared and the New Zealand Defence Force’s bomb team was called to investigate as a precaution, along with sniffer dogs.

       Flights were also suspended in the area before the package was confirmed as unsuspicious by police.