Secret cabinet documents to be released after 30 days

Secret State Cabinet documents will be flung open to Queenslanders in a matter of weeks, it can be revealed.

Premier Steven Miles

Secret State Cabinet documents will be flung open to Queenslanders in a matter of weeks as the Miles government confirms the date the key recommendation from a landmark integrity review will be enacted.

Matters deliberated on by the state government’s cabinet have remained under lock and key for decades, but The Courier-Mail can reveal the 30-day release of previously secret documents will apply for the meeting held on March 25.

This means Queenslanders will be given access to Cabinet document materials by the end of April.

The proactive release scheme was a key recommendation from Professor Peter Coaldrake’s review into government integrity culture, which said the public would have more trust in government if decisions were “made in the open and subject to scrutiny”.

Currently, State Cabinet documents are kept secret for 20 years.

Premier Steven Miles will on Thursday confirm the date for the rapid release of previously secret documents, telling The Courier-Mail “governing with integrity plays a big and important part in building” trust.

“My department has consulted with the experts here and in New Zealand, where a similar policy has been implemented, to make sure we get this policy right,” he said.

“The first documents set for release will be the last Cabinet meeting in March.

“Those documents will be available in April.”