John Key says Pansy Wong is "paying a very heavy price", for wrongly claiming a Parliamentary travel perk on a 2008 trip to China.

Pansy Wong's media statement on her resignation as a Cabinet minister

Pansy Wong is set to stand down as a Cabinet minister over the use of the parliamentary travel perk for her husband, Sammy. John Key is understood to be making a statement shortly.

John Key has told his Japanese hosts at Apec that NZ only wants Japan at talks on a regional free trade agreement if agriculture is on the table.

A panel of experts has recommended retaining neurosurgery services at both Dunedin and Christchurch hospitals - a verdict met by cheering crowds.