Hon DAVID PARKER (Minister of Revenue): I wasn't going to take a call on this, but I do find it a little bit galling to be lectured on political independence of the Reserve Bank by the National Party. I'm going to read an extract of a speech by the then Governor of the Reserve Bank, Dr Don Brash, who's a great fan of Friedrich Hayek. In 1996, he gave a speech about labour market policy. Now, the labour market by that time had been quite deregulated in New Zealand, and he said—this is as Governor of the Reserve Bank—"The deregulation is not complete. The Act provides for certain minimum entitlements that must be observed and employment contracts, including a minimum wage, minimum holiday entitlements, parental leave and equal pay for men and women." He was a man who, as Governor of the Reserve Bank, had a very extreme view of deregulation of the labour market and pushed it as Governor of the Reserve Bank, and then, whilst Governor of the Reserve Bank, in what should be one of the most apolitical roles of any role appointed by Governments, he negotiated a position on the National Party list whilst he was Governor of the Reserve Bank, and did not resign from the position of Governor of the Reserve Bank until his position on the National Party list in the 2002 election was secured. It's for that reason that I won't put up with being lectured on the importance of political neutrality and freedom from interference from politicians by the National Party.