ACT leader Rodney Hide says he has work to do to repair his party's relationship with the National Party after he was caught out criticising the Prime Minister.
At an ACT fund-raising breakfast in Christchurch on Thursday Mr Hide said John Key had done nothing apart from launch the national cycleway. He also said he was getting his own way in Cabinet because ministers were too busy to read his papers.
Mr Hide says the comments were part of political banter with fellow ACT members and had been taken out of context. He has apologised to Mr Key and his Cabinet colleagues and says he'll be more careful about the comments he makes in the future.
John Key is downplaying the remarks, saying it was simply political banter.
