Sickly sweet ending to Parliament bomb scare

The offending sweet treat.

A white powder scare at Parliament which led to a bomb disposal callout has had a sickly sweet ending.

Police were called to Parliament Buildings at around 4.30pm after the powder was found inside a package.

Wellington District police communications manager Nick Bohm said police sealed the room in which the parcel was opened and turned the air conditioning off.

Staff members who had touched the powder were asked to remain in the room while two police officers and two Parliamentary security staff opened the package in rubber gloves and masks.

Mr Bohm said: "Two staff members came into contact with it in the Parliamentary Library. Police attended the scene and we also deployed the [Explosive Ordnance Disposal] team."

"On arrival, we were able to confirm that it was Turkish delight. And the white powder was in fact icing sugar."

The "exquisitely handcrafted" sweets were sent to MPs, parliamentary staff and journalists as part of a promotion by a PR company.

The EOD team was immediately stood down.

The incident followed a series of security scares earlier this month when packages containing white powder were sent to MPs Gerry Brownlee and Peter Dunne's offices and to the Ministry of Health.