The members opposite, I've got one message for them: for goodness' sake, cheer up. While they busily try and talk down the country, they seem to be working on the assumption that New Zealanders have very bad memories. Well, let me take them on a little trip down memory lane, back to 2017, when two-thirds of people in New Zealand got a pay rise that was less than the rate of inflation. Across the OECD, New Zealanders had one of the lowest shares of economic growth going to wage and salary earners. 