Hon DAVID PARKER (Acting Minister of Finance): The fiscal and monetary measures enacted in early 2020 were in response to a pandemic-related one-in-100-year economic shock. This was a time of considerable uncertainty, with unemployment forecast to reach significant levels. I consider our economic response has been instrumental in the record low levels of unemployment we now have. If we did not provide that support, the economic consequences for New Zealanders were dire. In all likelihood, the households still managing the inflationary impacts of global energy prices now, many of them would also be out of work. New Zealand's response was in line with the rest of the advanced world, and was generally supported by Opposition parties at the time. We are now seeing tighter constraints on the supply side of the economy, and both monetary policy and fiscal policy are responding accordingly. Fiscal policy is also supporting New Zealand households through the current inflationary spike through targeted, temporary support.