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Prime Minister John Key will have to front his weekly post-Cabinet press conference standing in front of an Australian flag after losing a bet on the league grand final to his Australian counterpart Julia Gillard - but he will be spared the embarrassment today.
Key is travelling on commercial flights and will not be back in New Zealand until this afternoon, missing the weekly Cabinet meeting and subsequent media conference.
The Prime Minister will not be able to honour his end of the bet until next week.
Key arrived in Sydney on Saturday where he still had rugby union on his mind, calling All Black Dan Carter to offer his support after news broke that he had suffered a groin injury at training.
He told local media he was delighted by the number of Australians who told him they were backing the Warriors, who lost 24-10 to the Manly Sea Eagles at the ANZ Stadium in Homebush last night.
Key caused a stir last week after revealing Gillard had text him asking what the pair could bet on the game.
He originally joked that Australia could put up a coalmine and New Zealand would offer a pavlova recipe.
Key had noted the pair couldn't swap ties because Gillard didn't wear one.
In 2009 then Australian prime minister Kevin Rudd was forced to wear an All Black's tie after New Zealand won a Bledisloe match.
Key and Gillard finalised the bet last night just before kick off when he joined the Australian prime minister, New South Wales Premier Barry O'Farrell, Opposition leader Tony Abbott and former Australian prime minister John Howard in an officials box.
However, Key watched the game from the stands alongside the league-crazy Mad Butcher Sir Peter Leitch.
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