A political commentator says John Key has been much better at handling the latest development in the saga of the infamous teapot tape.

The conversation between him and John Banks has been posted on line.

Otago University's Dr Bryce Edwards says it's hard to see how it was worth the effort for Mr Key to report the matter to police.

"Putting forward a fairly humble apology to anyone who might have been offended. That will come over a lot better than his more aggressive approach he took towards the media before the election," he says.

Dr Bryce Edwards says the leaking of the tape was inevitable.

There's a call by Labour's leader for the mainstream media to be allowed to report on the recording of the so-called teapot tape.

The election campaign conversation between John Banks and John Key was released on the internet yesterday but because it's under police investigation, media can not reveal what the pair chatted about.

David Shearer believes that investigation is a waste of police time and resources.

He says complicating the issue is that the tapes could be released overseas and are all over the internet.

"This is completely unnecessary and I think the mainstream media should just be allowed to run it. John Key has already come out and apologised for his comments and it seems ridiculous that he's apologising for a comment that you on the other hand, are not allowed to run them," he told Newstalk ZB.