KEY POINTS:
Prime Minister John Key won't have to go far to get the high-powered approval he needs for his plans to auction off his Apec "potato sack" poncho for charity.
Under Cabinet Rules for ministers, only the Prime Minister can give permission for ministers to do as they wish with gifts.
Mr Key's plan for the Peruvian poncho Apec leaders wore for the traditional "silly shirts" photograph is to auction it off "for breast cancer or something like that."
However, under the rules for ministers, gifts received on official overseas visits belong to the office of the minister, rather than the person who holds the post.
Gifts worth more than $500 must be declared in the Register of Pecuniary Interest and given up when that person leaves office, unless the Prime Minister gives express permission to keep it.
It is questionable whether the market value of the poncho is $500 - but Mr Key said it was made from baby alpaca wool and he expected its rarity value would see it fetch a good price.
He said the best way would be to sell it at a fundraising event "where people could afford to pay so it generates quite a bit of money."
Mr Key said the ponchos were "actually quite nice" - but others have been less generous. The tent-like drab brown ponchos have been variously described as symbolising the straitened economic times and a celebration of the potato - a major export crop in Peru. The leaders apparently rejected the suggestion to finish off the outfit with a "chullo" - a woollen beanie with earflaps.
The ponchos sparked a few lighter moments for the leaders - Mr Key said Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd had asked where hands were meant to go - prompting the Mexican President to observe "you are meant to keep your hands hidden so they can't see your guns."
He said the Russian President Dmitry Medvedev had also leaned over to him on the way to the photo, wondering if Mr Key had anything quite like it in his wardrobe at home in New Zealand.
There do not seem to be rules for gifts with symbolic value, and the fate of Helen Clark's Apec shirts is unclear. However, the Cabinet Manual does provide for Parliamentary Services to take gifts for display or storage.
