Senator EDWARDS (South Australia) (16:21): I rise on this matter of public importance. The future submarine project is certainly a significant matter for South Australia and for all Australians. I have given up some of my time—Senator Conroy, you might want to come back to the chamber to hear from Senator Fawcett, who put it out there quite publicly this morning that he has been misquoted in The Advertiser. It cannot get any plainer that. He is an honourable fellow, as we all know He is not one of these fly-by-nighters that you see come and go from over the other side on some union deal. He will defend himself, of course, in his time. That takes me to a significant new dimension in the Labor leadership after the opposition leader's now notorious address to his union support base from the back of a truck. You were there on the back of the truck, Senator McEwen, through you Mr Acting Deputy President. I cannot remember seeing Senator Gallacher over there, but I guess he was there somewhere, trying to duck. Senator McEwen: He was here doing an inquiry, idiot! Senator EDWARDS: The alternative Prime Minister to this country revealed a number of things during his moment. He revealed where his heart remains— The ACTING DEPUTY PRESIDENT ( Senator Williams ): Order! Senator Edwards resume your seat. Senator McEwen, that is unparliamentary. I ask you to withdraw. Senator Gallacher: I was at a Senate inquiry in Canberra, not trying to duck— The ACTING DEPUTY PRESIDENT: I am addressing Senator McEwen. Do you not think you should withdraw that? Senator McEwen: I withdraw. Senator EDWARDS: I will have to ask you what I was accused of afterwards. The opposition leader, far from growing in his new job as opposition leader, revealed that he remains the picket line performer that he always was. If we are going to point back to a time in the career of the opposition leader, we will put that as a high-water mark, I suspect. It has been reported in newspapers, and I fully concur, that Mr Shorten's roused his flag-waving union audiences with references to race, fear and protectionism. Really? Has Australian politics got to that in 2014? This is something out of a 1950s black and white movie. Senator Brandis: Back to Arthur Calwell. Senator EDWARDS: Yes. Mr Shorten's rant painted Japan as a war-time enemy of Australia rather than as an economic partner of such vital significance as it is today. This flippant rhetoric is not just reckless; it is how diplomatic incidents take place and it is how they take flight. This how you fuel the very insecurities in a nation. I do not know what on earth he was thinking that day. Perhaps Senator Gallacher might have been there to pull him off the back of the truck to stop him from making a fool of himself. Where was the outrage from all those South Australians in the federal Labor government back then? Why was it that you oversaw the systematic demise of the defence-spending budget over the six years in your government? Why did you have Defence white paper after Defence white paper? You delayed 119 defence projects, 43 were reduced in scale and eight projects were cancelled altogether. Under Labor, the Australian defence industry lost more than 10 per cent of its workforce. The bottom line about Labor and defence is that they declared submarines a priority in 2007 but had done no work on them by the time they left office. This is why we find ourselves in the position we are in today. You are reckless, you are careless and you are playing around with the nation's sovereignty. (Time expired)