KEY POINTS:
Prime Minister John Key's arm cast is up for sale on the Trade Me auction site - but wait, there's more - he has thrown in a morning tea as a bonus.
The cast has been signed by Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd and other Pacific leaders and bidding had topped $1200 last night.
Mr Key broke his arm in two places when he fell while leaving a stage at a Chinese New Year function in Auckland a fortnight ago.
He promised to auction the cast and donate the proceeds to the Fred Hollows Foundation work in the Solomon Islands after the New Zealand police at the Ramsi (Regional Assistance Mission to the Solomon Islands) base asked him during his visit last week.
The auction site is headed "John's Cast Off", and as well as the cast, Mr Key has added the PM's shout, a morning tea with the winner. Mr Key will also sign the cast himself after his right arm is back in action.
The Prime Minister had intended to start the bidding by getting his family to bid $1000, but plans changed when it was discovered it was against Trade Me's rules. Instead, it began at $500 with a public auction.
The ad said the money would go to the Fred Hollows Foundation, which needed more eye doctors and nurses to help about 5000 blind people who mainly needed cataract surgery.
Bidders' questions included how smelly the cast was after his trip to the tropics, a subject Mr Key addressed when asked by reporters during the trip by pointing out the padding could be taken out.
Others wanted a free video of the footage of Mr Key falling, and to be picked up for the afternoon tea in Winston Peters' recently surrendered ministerial car (answer, no).
One of the first bidders was Palmerston North cartographer Ross Nixon, who pulled out of the race when it hit $530.
"I just wanted to get my name on there, so it was just to be a bit silly, really."
* View the auction on Trade Me
