The political panel on AM became somewhat of a love-fest on Friday morning between Labour's David Parker and outgoing National MP Simon Bridges, who the minister said would leave a "fiscal hole" in his party.
The National MP announced his retirement this week, revealing he was leaving Parliament to explore commercial opportunities and potentially a media project.
"He's going to leave a big fiscal hole in the National Party," Parker told AM on Friday. "He's a decent man. I've really enjoyed debating him. He's the most experienced politician in the National Party and he's going to be missed by them as well as by me."
Bridges said he had a lot of time for Parker.
"I think what I would say about David while we're having this mutual appreciation is he is a good, decent person who believes in what he's doing. He's in politics for the right reasons.
"We can spar and sometimes get a little bit annoyed or grouchy with each other about various issues, but I think in the end, dear I say it, we are both in politics for the right reasons, or we have been, and we both love this country and are working for the right reasons."
Bridges' departure came as a shock as National had finally eclipsed Labour in a recent poll and Bridges, as the party's finance spokesperson, was putting pressure on the Government over the cost-of-living crisis.
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern was reluctant to accept there was a "cost-of-living crisis" for Kiwis until earlier this week, when she also spoke of an "energy crisis" due to the impact of the Russia-Ukraine war on oil prices as well as an "economic crisis" off the back of COVID-19.
Appearing on AM's political panel, Bridges was asked about the economic "crises" facing New Zealand and how difficult he expects it will get for Kiwis.
"I don't want to be all doom and gloom. I do think, you look around the world, it's not all New Zealand, I think there are some New Zealand factors in play, the risk of recession is growing. There is a lot of pressure on businesses," he said.
Annual price inflation in the year to December 2021 hit 5.9 percent, the highest in three decades, and ANZ expects it to worsen to 7.4 percent in the second quarter of 2022 due to the war in Ukraine. Petrol prices have also skyrocketed in recent weeks, forcing the Government on Monday to cut excise tax and road user charges to alleviate some of the pain.
On Thursday, StatsNZ said Gross Domestic Product (GDP) was up 3 percent in the December 2021 quarter after a 3.6 percent fall in the previous quarter. That rise in activity was put down to COVID-19 restrictions loosening after last year's lockdown.
However, those figures don't capture impacts on business so far this year.
"It's a strong starting point for 2022 as we face the challenges of Omicron, a global energy crisis and ongoing supply chain disruptions from the pandemic," Finance Minister Grant Robertson said on Thursday. "These are causing significant stress to many households. They will also weigh on growth figures for the current quarter."
Bridges on Friday said businesses need as much certainty as they can get and welcomed the Government's announcement this week that tourists will start returning from mid-April.
"I would just encourage them to keep going actually, get to more normality because, in a sense, one way of thinking about the economy, that is actually small through large businesses, need to see that."
Parker said Kiwis can expect that "return to normality".
"We're rapidly opening up. International travel has opened up again for New Zealanders and very soon for tourists. Next week, we'll be making announcements about what happens to vaccine certificates and vaccine mandates.
"As we pass through the Omicron peak I've got some confidence that we're going to return to normality, probably faster than people expect."
While there appears to be broad acceptance of the current economic crisis, there's now debate over whether the healthcare system is in crisis.
Doctors have come out strongly against the Ministry of Health for what they say is a failure to communicate a plan to deal with the coming wave of other winter illnesses amid the Omicron outbreak. But Director-General of Health Dr Ashley Bloomfield on Thursday denied it was a crisis.
"I don't think it is a crisis in the health sector. There's no doubt that general practice and, in fact, the whole system is under a lot of pressure at the moment with this big Omicron wave," he told AM.
"We had planned for that and general practice and general practice leaders have been a very big part of that planning. There is a lot of support out there for them to help them through this period and they're doing a fantastic job."
Parker on Friday agreed with him.
"I'm with Dr Bloomfield here. Ukraine is a crisis. Women and children being blown to bits. People in shelters, cities without food and water. COVID is a crisis with millions of people dying around the world.
"The health system is under pressure because of COVID and because of other factors, but I think he's right to call it under pressure. Not a crisis."
Bridges said issues in the healthcare sector have been "brewing for a while" with a shortage of doctors and nurses due to "very restrictive" immigration settings. Parker jabbed back at that by saying the system needed more money, "not tax cuts", as National has proposed.
