Name: Howard governments secret cabinet documents reveal new details
Uploaded: 2026-01-01T06:35:27.466Z
Duration: 5 min 3 s
Description: Top secret documents relating to high-level decisions by Prime Minister John Howard and his cabinet in 2005 have been released as part of the National Archives’ annual New Year’s Day records dump.

Top secret documents relating to high-level decisions by Prime Minister John Howard and his cabinet in 2005 have been released as part of the National Archives’ annual New Year’s Day records dump.

Canberra

The National Archives of Australia has released cabinet records from 2005, providing insight into significant political decisions made by the Howard government. The documents reveal early recognition of climate change challenges, internal debates on nuclear energy, and the approval of the controversial Work Choices industrial relations reforms. 

Other key issues included the response to the unlawful detention of Cornelia Rau, the sale of Telstra, and Australia's diplomatic and trade engagement with China. The records also detail cabinet's reaction to international terrorist attacks and the extension of Australia's military commitment to Afghanistan.

Howard government's secret cabinet documents reveal new details

2005, a divisive year at home and abroad, from the Cronulla riots... This is what our grandfathers fought for, to protect this. ..to Chappelle Corby being jailed for smuggling more than four kilos of cannabis into Bali. He's innocent! Making it a challenging time for John Howard and his re-elected Liberal government, including a moment etched in political infamy. Oh, my God! And now, details into the political discussions and decisions that took place behind closed doors, with the National Archives of Australia releasing the Cabinet records from 2005. You have ministers at the time, in 2005, adverting to the huge problems that climate change is going to pose for Australia and the immensity of the international task to address that. Then-Industry Minister Ian McFarlane put forward a report to Cabinet which kick-started the Liberal Party's years-long debate on nuclear energy. What were some of those discussions about in the Cabinet room? There was no clear recommendation, but there was a recommendation that at least be considered. But I don't think there was a real appetite to make the changes that some people later called for to make nuclear a vital part of the energy mix. Philip Ruddock was the Attorney-General at the time. In my view, it was important that the restriction on the use of nuclear power be removed. Not that I would want the government to be building nuclear power stations, and I certainly would not have been taking the approach that Peter Dutton took in the last election... ..if I were there. But it wasn't a year without political scandal. An inquiry was called after Cornelia Rau, an Australian citizen, was unlawfully kept in immigration detention for 10 months after going missing. The findings were scathing. A missing person in New South Wales was not known to be a missing person in Queensland because the information wasn't shared between state government agencies. I think the lesson was, how do you get governments to speak to each other more fully and to ensure that information that ought to be made known isn't locked away? That same issue now being canvassed by the Albanese government in the wake of the Bondi Beach terrorist attack. Workplace relations reforms, also known as the now infamous Work Choices Package, was approved by Cabinet in May 2005. On the first day of Christmas, my PM gave to me a chance to trade away leave. A policy that played a big part in John Howard's downfall just two years later. Do you think there was any indication that how badly this could have gone for the then government, even early on when they were looking at implementing these policies? I suppose the backlash really surprised a lot of people, and particularly the effectiveness of the ACTU campaign, which was really a very, very good political campaign. The government's push to sell off its remaining stake of Telstra also high on the agenda. That went ahead a year later, with newly appointed Queensland Senator Barnaby Joyce holding out. Are you prepared to cross the floor? Absolutely. While on the world stage, Australia's relationship with China was also front of mind for the fourth-term Liberal government. Relations with China were actually pretty good in that period. Howard himself makes visits to China in 2005, and those are very successful, and also revolve around gas exports, liquefied natural gas. Kicking off negotiations for a free trade agreement between Canberra and Beijing. It will be a very complex negotiation, but it will be approached by Australia in a positive frame of mind. In July 2005, the cabinet also extended Australia's commitment to Afghanistan. But it was terrorist attacks overseas, including the London bombing, that killed 52 people, including one Australian, and the 2005 Bali bombings that killed four Australians that prompted cabinet to back a national action plan to address threats to Australia's social cohesion, something that's happening now in the wake of last month's Bondi Beach massacre. Do you think there are lessons that governments of the future, or even now, can learn? Look, I think it's important to be focused on the risks that we face as a nation. And for me, the most important measures are what you need to do to be able to keep people safe. A challenge now and beyond. Matthew Karstunen, 10 News.

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