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John Key
Announcing to the press gallery that he had had a vasectomy, Prime Minister John Key put another spin on the cut and thrust of politics.
Answering questions about changes to early childhood education funding during his regular Monday post-Cabinet presser, Key was asked if he would send his children to a centre where 80% of staff were qualified teachers or 100%.
"I think if I sent my 15-year-old or 17-year-old to early childhood at the moment they'd have a meltdown," he quipped.
But what if his wife Bronagh had another?
"I'd be extremely worried because I've had a vasectomy."
In the face of the stunned hacks, he said; "It's probably too much information for the purposes of a press conference but anyway."
And while the reporters got themselves together: "Boy, that's slowed things down. Any other questions?"
A Radio New Zealand reporter had sufficiently recovered by this stage to ask: "Did it hurt?"
"Not overly, actually," Key replied.
TVNZ then wanted to know if it was a budget cut.
"All I can say is it's been highly successful but anyway we won't get into that either.
"Any other questions or are we done for the day?"
There was another, about deep sea digging, and Key said he was happy to dig into a different issue.
