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Cabinet paper release

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John Howard on one of his election campaign morning walks in 2004. The victory was perhaps the high point in his entire term.

He crushed Latham in 2004, but unlocked cabinet papers reveal the problems Howard could not fix

John Howard’s victory at the 2004 election remains one of federal politics’ most remarkable achievements. But cabinet papers from that year show it was the start of the end.

  • Shane Wright

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John Howard and Peter Costello - a joint submission from them on spiralling housing costs in 2004 effectively pushed off any contentious changes.

House prices were already spiralling in 2004: Here’s what Howard and Costello did about it

In 2004, house prices in every capital city were surging to unaffordable levels. The Howard cabinet considered its options – and did nothing.

  • Shane Wright
US President George W. Bush and John Howard took us to war in Iraq in 2003.

Staying the course: Howard rolled Defence plan to cut Iraq presence

Seven months after the invasion of Iraq, the Defence Department said it was time to cut Australia’s troop presence. Secret documents reveal how the plan was thwarted.

  • Shane Wright and Matthew Knott
archives info

Secret government papers disappeared decades ago. They turned up in a dusty corner of parliament

Like a scene from The Office, highly secret cabinet documents were forgotten and left to collect dust in safes inside one the country’s most important departments.

  • Shane Wright and Olivia Ireland
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese in Sydney on Wednesday.

Albanese wants ex-spy chief to find out if missing 2003 Iraq war papers were a cover-up

Slamming the discovery of the extra documents just before Christmas, the prime minister said there was no reason why the documents should not be made public.

  • Matthew Knott, Olivia Ireland and Shane Wright
An Australian engineer in Antarctica.

The ‘once-only’ opportunity to expand Australia’s size by almost 50 per cent

Cabinet documents reveal the Howard government moved quickly to lock in a claim over huge areas of the seabed across the Pacific, Indian and Southern oceans, including key areas off Australia’s Antarctic territory.

  • Shane Wright
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A young girl and her baby sister emerge from the heat and smoke from a petrochemical plant near their family farm, just north of the Iraq-Kuwait border.

Ex-ASIO chief called in after 11th hour discovery of missing Iraq War secret papers

On March 18, 2003, John Howard committed Australia to war in Iraq, but the key advice relied upon by the national security committee is missing from recently released cabinet papers.

  • Shane Wright
John Howard talks to then Labor leader Simon Crean in the House of Representatives in August 2003. Days later, Howard would convince his cabinet to dump support for an emissions trading scheme.

Why John Howard intervened to kill the emissions trading scheme his cabinet wanted

Cabinet documents reveal the Howard government went close to supporting a carbon price in 2003. They also show why it was killed off.

  • Shane Wright
A debate about the use of excess embryos for medical research dominated discussion in the Howard government in early 2002.

The ‘sneaky’ language that failed to stop medical research with embryos

A contentious argument within the Howard government over unused IVF embryos pitted conservatives and liberals against each other.

  • Shane Wright
John Howard tours Bali bombing site in 2002.

‘No evidence’ of threat to Australia months ahead of Bali bombings

Cabinet papers from 2002 reveal the Howard government grappling with terror-related issues, including the devastating Bali bombings.

  • Shane Wright

Original URL: https://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/topic/cabinet-paper-release-1ncp