Archives cabinet documents release -1990-1991 still too recent for some

Plenty to fill columns in the media on New Years day with the annual cabinet document release by Archives Australia, this year for 1990-1991, the last years of the Hawke government.

Not widely reported was that the release comes with the usual mysteries concerning 'the small amount of material" withhheld. Who knows at what point these elements of ancient history become publicly known and acknowledged ancient history. 

Three cabinet documents are withheld in their entirely-not even the title can be disclosed- because disclosure"would damage Australia's security, defence or international relations – s33(1)(a)."

Twenty six documents are released with redactions ("Open with exception"-OWE) based on this and other provisions in section 33 of the Archives Act.

Gabrielle Chan in The Guardian writes about the document released with redactions ("Open with exceptions"-OWE)  concerning the Coronation Hill mining lease held by BHP in an area that is now a part of Kakadu national park in the Northern Territory. 

 

The Submission 7994 (Response to Resource Assessment Commission (RAC) inquiry into use of resources of Kakadu Conservation Zone - Decision 15315) is the only OWE document I can find published online with reasons for deletions. Pages 53-56 containing "information provided by the Attorney General's Department relating to matters that could be subject of legal proceedings" are redacted. 

 

That advice was provided in 1991. According to Archives the "information continues to be sensitive despite the passage of time and the information has enduring confidentiality. The public's interest to know about the decisions of government is outweighed by the need for the information to be protected  from release because of ongoing sensitivities.Therefore it would be contrary to the public interest for information to be disclosed."

 

(Counterpoint: In 1979 the Senate Standing Committee recommended against the inclusion of a legal professional privilege exemption in the Archives Bill, to no avail.  Seventeen years ago the Australian Law Reform Commission recommended the professional privilege exemption should be removed from the Archives Act, to no avail. Quite a few other ALRC recommendations in that report were not acted upon. Records law and practice is an area that needs updating, not just on the "open/closed' scale but in 2016, in light of technological developments and the move towards 'digital only' records.)

(Correction: at least two other documents OWE and published online with reasons for refusal are New Policy Proposals for the 1991 Budget (amounts for funding new activities of the Australian Secret Intelligence Service redacted on grounds information is still sensitive and disclosure "could compromise future activities and impair its ability to carry out its statutory functions") and Petroleum Resource Rent Tax-revenue sharing (one page redacted on legal privilege grounds, the reasons given in the exact terms used for redaction of advice from the Attorney General's Department in Submission 7994 mentioned above.)

 

Other head scratch redactions from documents now 24-25 years old (apart from redactions to a raft of security and intelligence related documents) are two budget documents one of which is about revenue sharing the Petroleum Resource Rent Tax; Threats against civil aviation; Australia's policy approach to Papua New Guinea; Australia-Taiwan relations; Australia-Iran relations - control of Iranian students in Australia; and British atomic tests - personal compensation for aboriginals. 

 

From the Archives website-not easy to find from the home page IMO.   

Cabinet records withheld from public access  

A small amount of material contained in the Cabinet records has been withheld from public access. The following table indicates whether a document is partially released (noted as 'OWE' – open with exception) or wholly withheld (noted as 'CLOSED') and the reasons for exemption from public access under the Archives Act 1983.

Information has been exempted under different categories of section 33 of the Archives Act 1983 because its disclosure:

• would damage Australia's security, defence or international relations – s33(1)(a)
• would breach a confidence shared by a foreign government, an authority of a foreign government, or an international organisation with the Commonwealth government – 33(1)(b)
• would unreasonably disclose information about the personal affairs of a person – 33(1)(g)
• would be privileged from production in legal proceedings on the ground of legal professional privilege and its disclosure would be contrary to the public interest – 33(2).

Budget

Title or description of record	Date range	Series number and control symbol	Reason for exemption from public access under the Archives Act	Barcode
Memorandum 7140 - New policy proposals for the 1990–91 Budget - overview - Decision 13850/ER	1990	A14039, 7140	OWE 33(1)(a)	31749454
Submission 8423 - Petroleum Resource Rent Tax (PRRT) - revenue sharing - No Decision	1991	A14039, 8423	OWE 33(2)(a)(b)	31750874

Defence

Title or description of record	Date range	Series number and control symbol	Reason for exemption from public access under the Archives Act	Barcode
Submission 7350 - Nuclear non-proliferation and the Fourth Review Conference of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) - Decision 14337	1990	A14039, 7350	OWE 33(1)(a)	31749644
Submission 7398 - Middle East deployment - implementation - Decision 14390	1990	A14039, 7398	OWE 33(1)(a)	31749686
Submission 7415 - Middle East deployment - implications of United Nations Security Council Resolution 665 (UNSCR 665) - Decision 14401	1990	A14039, 7415	OWE 33(1)(a)	31749697
Submission 7651 - Jindalee Operational Radar Network (JORN) - No Decision	1990	A14039, 7651	OWE 33(1)(a)	31749820
Submission 7674 - Jindalee Operational Radar Network (JORN) - Decision 14774	1990	A14039, 7674	OWE 33(1)(a)	31749841
Submission 7912 - Kurdish relief arrangements - Australian Defence Force contribution - Decision 15150	1991	A14039, 7912	OWE 33(1)(a)	31750515
Submission 8192 - Threats against civil aviation - Decision 15887	1991	A14039, 8192	OWE 33(2)(a)(b)	31750734

Environment

Title or description of record	Date range	Series number and control symbol	Reason for exemption from public access under the Archives Act	Barcode
Submission 7994 - Response to Resource Assessment Commission (RAC) inquiry into use of resources of Kakadu Conservation Zone - Decision 15315	1991	A14039, 7994	OWE 33(2)(a)(b)	31750560

Foreign affairs

Title or description of record	Date range	Series number and control symbol	Reason for exemption from public access under the Archives Act	Barcode
Submission 7250 - Papua New Guinea (PNG) - Australia's policy approach - Decision 14026	1990	A14039, 7250	OWE 33(1)(a)	31749551
Submission 7601 - Australia-Taiwan relations - Decision 14658	1990	A14039, 7601	OWE 33(1)(a)	31749795
Submission 7913 - Australia-Iran relations - control of Iranian students in Australia - No Decision	1991	A14039, 7913	OWE 33(1)(a)	31750516

Indigenous affairs

Title or description of record	Date range	Series number and control symbol	Reason for exemption from public access under the Archives Act	Barcode
Submission 7481 - British atomic tests - personal compensation for aboriginals - Decision 14549	1990	A14039, 7481	OWE 33(1)(g)	31749745

Security and intelligence

Title or description of record	Date range	Series number and control symbol	Reason for exemption from public access under the Archives Act	Barcode
Memorandum 7154 - Finance report on the Australian Intelligence Community (AIC) budget and forward estimates for the period 1990-1991 to 1993-1994 - Decision 13899/SEC	1990	A14039, 7154	OWE 33(1)(a)	31517342
Submission 7156 - Australian Secret Intelligence Service (ASIS) - resources for new activities - Decision 13901/SEC	1990	A14039, 7156	OWE 33(1)(a)	31517344
Submission 7159 - Telecommunications interception technology - Decision 13903/SEC	1990	A14039, 7159	OWE 33(1)(a)	31517347
Memorandum 7160 - East European intelligence services' threat to Australia - an update - Decision 13906/SEC	1990	A14039, 7160	OWE 33(1)(a)	31517348
Memorandum 7161 - The security implications arising from the entry to Australia of Iranian students - Decision 13907/SEC	1990	A14039, 7161	OWE 33(1)(a)	31517349
Memorandum 7162 - The terrorist threat to Australia - Decision 13904/SEC	1990	A14039, 7162	OWE 33(1)(a)	31517350
Submission 7644 - Offshore Counter-Terrorist (CT) capability review - Decision 14730/SEC	1990	A14039, 7644	OWE 33(1)(a)	31517445
Memorandum 7648 - SCIS [Secretaries Committee on Intelligence and Security] report to Ministers on the activities of the intelligence and security agencies 1989-1990 - Decision 14726/SEC	1990	A14039, 7648	OWE 33(1)(a)	31517452
Memorandum 7870 - Australia's Internal Security Environment 1990-1991 - Decision 15191/SEC	1991	A14039, 7870	OWE 33(1)(a)	31517492
Memorandum 8054 - Finance report on the Australian Intelligence Community (AIC) budget and forward estimates for the period 1991-1992 to 1994-1995 - Decision 15322/SEC	1991	A14039, 8054	OWE 33(1)(a)	31517549
Memorandum 8055 - SCIS [Secretaries Committee on Intelligence and Security] Working Group report on the Gulf Crisis - Decision 15323/LEG	1991	A14039, 8055	OWE 33(1)(a)	31517550
Submission 8057 - Changes to rules on foreign signals intelligence and Australian persons - Decision 15325/SEC	1991	A14039, 8057	OWE 33(1)(a)	31517552

Wholly withheld

Title or description of record	Date range	Series number and control symbol	Reason for exemption from public access under the Archives Act	Barcode
Submission 7155 - Title exempt - Decision 13900/SEC	1990	A14039, 7155	CLOSED 33(1)(a)	31517343
Memorandum 7642 - Title exempt - Decision 14727/SEC	1990	A14039, 7642	CLOSED 33(1)(a)	31517444
Memorandum 8056 - Title exempt - Decision 15324/SEC	1991	A14039, 8056	CLOSED 33(1)(a)	31517551