After one mainstream journalist described it as "possibly the most Kiwi thing I've ever seen", twitter users didn't hold back.
One questioned how it is that NZ mainstream media think the set up was accidental.
Another claimed the PM was good at PR stunts: "Just look what happened when she wore a headscarf after the Christchurch attack. Mother Teresa to the world!"
The mood was summed up pretty well by this tweet: "A hay bale at a farm shed will be a very rare thing to see soon with the kind of crap Ardern is dumping on our nation's main earners for this country's economy."