John Key breaks arm after fall

The Year of the Ox has started on a painful note for Prime Minister John Key, who broke his right arm in two places during a Chinese New Year celebration.

A spokesman for Mr Key said he would seek specialist treatment today to see whether he needed an operation for the injury, which happened when he slipped on stairs as he left the stage at the ASB Showgrounds in Auckland on Saturday morning.

He then sat through another hour of the show and photos afterwards before heading to another function where he had to shake hands with 120 touch rugby players.

His arm is in a temporary cast, which runs right up to below his armpit.

He would be seeing a specialist today to see if an operation was necessary, his spokesman said yesterday.

Mr Key's spokesman said he intended to continue his schedule, including attending the first full Cabinet meeting of the year tomorrow.

He also planned to go to a Pacific Islands Forum meeting in Papua New Guinea next week. That trip includes a half-day flying visit to New Zealand operations in the Solomon Islands.

The Cabinet meeting is likely to focus on the economic crisis, and comes after Treasury warned that New Zealand faced zero growth this year, with unemployment almost doubling to 7 per cent.

In Chinese astrology, 2009 is the Year of the Ox as was 1961, the year Mr Key was born.