We have interest rates climbing faster than they ever have in the history of the official cash rate in New Zealand, with New Zealanders having to re-fix their mortgages and watch hundreds more dollars walk out of their bank accounts. We have widespread workforce shortages, such that businesses are having to close their doors and say no to offshore orders because they simply don't have the workers to do the job. We have an economy that shrank in the first quarter of this year and that declined in size. And with all of this going on, we have thousands of New Zealanders voting with their feet, departing our shores for Australia. So this was an opportunity for the Minister of Finance to illustrate and set out a plan for New Zealand's economic recovery and to demonstrate he understands how tough things are and that he is setting a course to make them better. 