Hon DAVID PARKER: Because I'm confident that the Inland Revenue Department data sets are robust and are amongst the best data sets in the world. I also know that Cabinet considered and rejected the alternative, which would have cost a lot more money, which was to run an application process for the about 2 million people that are eligible, which would have cost a lot more than the money that would have saved and would have missed out a lot of eligible people. As the New Zealand Herald editorial today said, "The only practical solution … was a broad and largely unvetted package. … Anyone 'embarrassed' or 'outraged' by the over-reach of the scheme [can] return the payment or forward it to a charity—and update their [IRD] records … As a former Inland Revenue deputy commissioner has pointed out, there were problems with all alternative approaches and the scheme, despite its flaws, was the most immediate. Something had to be done, and doing nothing would have been worse."