Hon GRANT ROBERTSON: I've seen a number of recent comments on the economic benefits of the Government's strategy for managing COVID-19. Economist Shamubeel Eaqub said that when comparing indicators with other countries, "New Zealand's experience appears to bear out the benefit of eliminating community transmission." For example: "Weekly jobs in New Zealand have been tracking 6 per cent higher than Australia. Spending at shops has been tracking higher than the US." As Mr Eaqub said, "If we repeat our health and economic experience of the last lockdown, we will come out better off economically, without littering our conscience with lost lives." Likewise, Westpac economists have said that "Countries that have implemented successful lockdowns"—such as China—"are generally doing … better … than countries that have not—illustrating that the 'choice' between 'health and economy' was always a false dichotomy." I agree with these commentators that the best economic response is a public health response. That is why, once again, we have gone hard and early, and we are well placed to recover from this particular resurgence. 