O'Connor Damien: General DebateText is subject to correctionO'Connor Damien: General Debate[Sitting date: 04 December 2013. Volume:695;Page:15241. Text is subject to correction.]Hon DAMIEN O’CONNOR (Labour—West Coast - Tasman): This Government is failing. This is a shambolic Government that is a disgrace to democracy. I received an email today and so did most MPs saying: “Please remember those who died for democracy died for the freedom to vote died so that people could be heard. Please do not dismiss the result of any referendum as though it is a pain in your side or with remarks akin to ‘It won’t change anything.’ because it is a slap in the face to all those who have served and currently serve in the armed forces; those who have committed their lives to the protection of our rights.” That is from a third-generation armed forces member. All those people whom we acknowledge on Anzac Day would be rolling over in their graves if they knew what is going on in this country today.Thirty pieces of silver $30 million to RioTinto and 30 percent of the population at best support asset sales—what is the common thread there? Well it is in one word “treachery”—treachery. I went toWikipedia—as we all do today of course; to the font of all wisdom—to ask what the definition of “treason” is. It said: “citizen’s actions to … seriously injure …” the nation. I put it to you that that is exactly what this National Government is carrying out by ignoring the views of New Zealanders. It is treachery that is seriously undermining our ability to move forward as a country.This Government is failing in many areas. Today we heard about education. The balance of payments deficit—oh terms of trade are good; the balance of payments deficit is disastrous. Well I look at a couple of areas of the economy and at primary industries in particular.Let us look at forestry. There are record export earnings in forestry—well so we are told. There are certainly record log exports. So what we have seen is a record to $4.3 billion which I think is about the fourth-biggest export from this country. The majority of it is now going out in logs. It is $120 for a tonne of logs and $400 for a tonne oftimber. The National Government is exporting jobs from this country every single day from the forestry industry. And do you know what we are left with? We are left with an industry under huge commercial pressure—financial pressure—to the point where it is killing people in the forests on a regular basis because of the financial pressure put on contracting firms to rip down those logs and get rid of them as quickly as possible. That is the failure of the National Government in the forestry industry.Let us look at meat—the once-proud meat industry. National is the party that champions the rights of farmers. What is happening in the meat industry? Farmers are leaving to go dairying. Even in the area of dairying we are seeing unhidden environmental and financial costs. Let us go back to meat—the wonderful progress—because the National Government has committed half a million dollars to the Red Meat Sector Strategy and then committed $350 million of taxpayer and farmer money through the Primary Growth Partnership to grow the red meat industry. And do you know what the latest innovation is? It is to take the carcasses cut them into six pieces and send them to China for further value-added processing. This National Government is a disgrace to the agricultural sector. The farmers and the meatworkers who have worked hard to build value in the meat industry have seen it destroyed in 1 single year.Look at manufacturing. National has failed in manufacturing. At best it has been flat—exports of manufactured products—mainly off the back of the primary sector because of the dairy industry.Take away the dairy sector influence and in every measure of our economy this National Government has failed. It is indeed carrying out treacherous acts of selling our assets and failing to build up any additional value in this economy. This Government is a disgrace.