Lessons from another time in secret cabinet documents

The year was 2005.

Anthony Callea and the Pussycat Dolls topped the charts, moviegoers flocked to see Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith, and low-rise jeans were all the rage.

In politics, then prime minister John Howard was on the rise; He was the first Australian leader in decades to hold a majority not only in the House of Representatives but also in the Senate.

But newly released cabinet documents from 20 years ago reveal the beginning of the end for the Howard government that will soon fall into the hands of Kevin Rudd.

As Labor debates how best to use its huge parliamentary majority, the opposition considers changes to workplace rules and both parties grapple with Australia’s fraying social cohesion, previously unseen records made public by the National Archives provide lessons and warnings for both sides of politics.

At the time, Mr Howard was preparing landmark changes to Australia’s industrial relations laws to cut some workers’ rights, including penalty rates and overtime, to make businesses more productive.

Former cabinet minister Phillip Ruddock admits the majority of the government encouraged him to make more ambitious changes.

“From my perspective, it was fundamental that we pursued measures that would make the Australian economy more productive and efficient and generate more wealth,” he told AAP.

But records show that not all government departments fully agreed with the changes.

Although the then ministry of finance and administration said the proposal would “enable Australia to move towards a unified workplace relations system”, the agriculture ministry was less convinced.

“The Department remains concerned about the potential for industrial disputes arising from unions and state governments’ opposition to reforms, which will adversely affect the operations of portfolio industries,” he wrote in a statement issued in July.

Agriculture also worried that freezing reward wage increases would make it harder for farmers to attract skilled workers.

Cabinet historian David Lee said WorkChoices sparked a major resistance campaign led by the Australian Council of Trade Unions.

This snowballed into the Kevin07 campaign, which brought Kevin Rudd to the prime minister’s office after 11 years of coalition rule.

Mr Ruddock does not believe his colleagues expected this onslaught of criticism.

“I don’t recall anyone expressing the opinion that the changes could prevent us from being re-elected,” he said.

As the incumbent Liberals prepare to develop new industrial relations policies as part of efforts to regain political relevance, the former minister says there are lessons to be learned from the contentious saga.

“There is a commitment among Liberals to growth in the Australian economy and creating wealth for people generally,” Mr Ruddock said.

“Sometimes industrial relations become a significant obstacle to this growth.”

Also in 2005, the government was working on the best way to approach counter-terrorism and national security in the wake of the London bombings; It’s a speech that has chilling echoes even 20 years after the Bondi massacre.

On 7 July 2005, four suicide bombers killed 52 people in attacks on London’s transport network.

Following the attack, the cabinet’s national security committee considered introducing some form of national ID card, but never implemented the proposal.

Cabinet notes from the period also show discussions about a “national action plan” to promote tolerance of different faiths and build leadership within the Muslim community.

Ministers discussed the importance of tackling “young Muslims’ sense of exclusion from their communities”.

“(This is) often caused by widespread racism and social and economic deprivation,” multiculturalism minister John Cobb wrote in a December memo.

The cabinet agreed to continue considering the application “at a later time”.

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