The PM on Private Hospitals, Afghanistan and Sushi

Click for big version

• Scoop Audio: Audio on Demand of NZ Prime Minister John Key's weekly press conference.

Changes to District Health Board protocols will see further privatisation of the health sector. Under the changes DHBs will be able to negotiate long-term contracts with private hospitals, primarily for the provision of elective surgery.

NZ troops in Afghanistan triggered a roadside bomb last night, and today the Prime Minister said advice he was getting suggested the country was becoming more dangerous for our troops. The PM confirmed New Zealand's SAS (Special Air Service) are not currently deployed in the county, but he also said he may not admit it if they were.

The PM defended parliamentary spending in the face of criticism from Treasury about MPs' failure to reign in costs. When asked whether the subsidised parliamentary restaurant Bellamy's should be run as a proper business, the PM highlighted the eatery’s lackluster salads and urged them to do better on the sushi.

And lastly, Speaker Lockwood Smith will be married in parliament on Saturday. Who would of guessed. Invites only.

For video of the whole conference see below

(See... r2.co.nz - PM's Press Conference 29/6/200 & TV3 Video - Post-cabinet press conference, June 29, 2009)

Click for big version

© Scoop Media