Category Archives: Cabinet papers

Greens demand full release of government documents on ‘disastrous’ decision to join Iraq invasion

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Nick McKim says national security committee documents used to justify the war may answer questions about momentous foreign policy decision

The release of the 2003 cabinet papers “barely scratches the surface” of the Howard government’s “disastrous decision to go to war in Iraq” and reinforces the need for a parliamentary vote before committing Australia to future wars, Greens senator Nick McKim has said.

McKim has demanded the full release of all national security committee and cabinet documents related to the 2003 decision, which committed Australia to the US-led “coalition of the willing” to invade Iraq.

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Australia went to war in Iraq based on ‘oral reports’ to cabinet from John Howard

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Cabinet papers from 2003 show there was no formal submission before decision was taken to join US-led ‘coalition of the willing’

Australia joined the US-led invasion of Iraq, one of the most contentious decisions of John Howard’s prime ministership, without a formal cabinet submission setting out a full analysis of the risks.

Cabinet papers published by the National Archives on Monday show the full cabinet signed off on the decision on 18 March 2003 based on “oral reports by the prime minister”.

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Sliding doors: cabinet papers reveal how close Coalition came to endorsing emissions trading in 2003

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The Howard government drafted a statement declaring its support for an emissions trading scheme before abruptly changing course

The Howard government drafted a statement declaring its support for an emissions trading scheme 20 years ago, only for the idea to be scuttled by business lobbying, newly released documents show.

Cabinet papers from 2003, released by the National Archives on Monday, show the then Coalition government was in possession of clear advice from Treasury that a broad-based market mechanism would be the cheapest way to reduce emissions.

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Howard government worked with Canada to oppose UN declaration on Indigenous rights

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Cabinet papers from 2003 show the government pursued talks without consulting peak Indigenous body – which it then abolished

The Howard government fought strongly against recognising the right of Indigenous peoples to “self-determination” and worked secretly with Canada to try to change a draft UN declaration, newly released cabinet papers show.

The cabinet papers from 2003, released by the National Archives on Monday, show that some Australian government departments held concerns about potential impacts of the UN declaration on the rights of Indigenous peoples, but Australia’s talks with Canada on amendments were being pursued with “no Indigenous consultation about the process or its product” as such input would be “premature”.

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Russia-backed spaceport proposed for Christmas Island abandoned in 2002 over sovereignty fears

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Cabinet papers reveal Russia wanted to limit Australia’s access to its rocket technology and classified information, leading to ‘impasse’

Plans to build a spaceport on Christmas Island with Russian technology were stymied in 2002 over fears that it would impinge on Australia’s sovereignty, cabinet papers reveal.

Russia wanted to limit Australia’s access to its rocket technology and classified information, and had concerns that a planned detention facility on the island would put its security at risk.

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John Howard’s government considered letting offshore detainees into Australia in 2002

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Cabinet papers 2002: records show there were growing concerns about management of asylum seekers in Australia’s offshore detention centres

The year 2002 started with traumatised asylum seekers sewing their lips together in protest at their incarceration, and ended with the federal government urgently planning a detention centre on Christmas Island.

John Howard and his cabinet were facing growing criticism over long-term detention as they increasingly enforced boat turnbacks and offshore detention in an effort to stop asylum seekers reaching the mainland.

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John Howard overrode George Pell’s objections to allow research using surplus IVF embryos

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Cabinet papers 2002: PM lifted ban despite opposition of conservatives and religious leaders, including then Archbishop Pell

John Howard’s decision to allow stem cell research using surplus IVF embryos might surprise people “who saw Howard as only a rightwing person”, the former senator and cabinet minister Amanda Vanstone has said.

Despite opposition from conservative and religious groups, and despite seeking advice from the then Catholic archbishop of Sydney, George Pell, the former Liberal prime minister lifted the national ban in 2002.

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Howard ministers considered extinguishing native title over SA site earmarked for nuclear waste dump

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Cabinet papers 2002: documents shed light on strategy amid decades-long battle to create national storage centre

John Howard’s government considered extinguishing native title over a South Australian site earmarked for a nuclear waste dump “by agreement or by compulsory acquisition”, the 2002 cabinet papers reveal.

The records, released on Sunday by the National Archives of Australia, shed light on the Howard government’s part in the decades-long battle to create a national storage site for Australia’s low- and medium-level nuclear waste.

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Cabinet papers 1998-99: Coalition’s campaign to unleash the GST laid bare

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Tax reform dominated debate, as ministers discussed East Timor and the 2000 Olympics – and resisted climate action

On 1 July Australia’s goods and services tax will have been in place for 20 years. It is uncontroversial in concept, with no major party advocating its abolition. Every so often there are calls for it to be increased from 10% or expanded – calls that are usually rebuffed.

But just how fraught the GST was to introduce is one of the key insights from the release of cabinet papers by the National Archives of Australia, covering the years 1998 and 1999. There were other concerns: East Timor’s independence, the 2000 Sydney Olympics, the failed republican referendum, and familiar resistance to doing anything but the minimum on climate change.

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