Mr President, I ask a further supplementary question. I refer Senator Brandis to Peter Hartcher's article in TheSydney Morning Herald on 20 February about the submarine debacle where he quotes an Abbott government minister saying:

There was a headlong rush to be best buddies with Abe … and we've been backfilling ever since.

Isn't the government's sham process for Australia's future submarines designed only to deliver a decision already made in secret by the government?

Senator Conroy interjecting—