Hon GRANT ROBERTSON (Minister of Finance): The latest Westpac McDermott Miller Consumer Confidence Survey released yesterday did show the consumer confidence had fallen by 7 points to 97.2 in June. Westpac said that a drop in sentiment was not surprising given the economic impacts of COVID-19, and that the result was in fact "surprisingly moderate", likely owing to New Zealand's success in limiting the spread of the virus and the earlier than anticipated easing in lockdown restrictions. Westpac further said that this relative resilience in consumer confidence adds to other signs that the COVID recession may not prove quite as severe as initially feared. However, Westpac still expects weak GDP and a big increase in unemployment over the coming few months, something which we have been clear about from several months ago. That's why we are making the significant investments we are through the COVID-19 Response and Recovery Fund, to help New Zealanders recover and rebuild from this global pandemic. 