The newspapers always get a little boost of editorial content at the New Year's Day, thanks to the latest release of the Cabinet papers' from 20 years earlier. The Cabinet is the Federal Government's executive branch, made up of federal ministers, the senior decision-makers in the government. Two key features of the Cabinet are collective responsibility and confidentiality.
Members of the Cabinet are collectively responsible for the decisions made by Cabinet. While they may air disagreement within a Cabinet meeting, it is a convention that all ministers will fully and publicly support the Cabinet decisions. Therefore, the records of the Cabinet are not released at the time of the Cabinet meeting.
Cabinet records created in 2001 became available to access on 1 January 2022. This annual release of Cabinet documents is generally seen as an exercise in transparency. This is because the public can get an insight into the issues considered by the government of the day and the advice given by various ministers.
It is all very well to release these Cabinet papers after 20 years, but I can't see how this delay in transparency contributes to an open and effective government. No one seems to be held accountable for poor past decisions.
Members of the Cabinet are collectively responsible for the decisions made by Cabinet. While they may air disagreement within a Cabinet meeting, it is a convention that all ministers will fully and publicly support the Cabinet decisions. Therefore, the records of the Cabinet are not released at the time of the Cabinet meeting.
Cabinet records created in 2001 became available to access on 1 January 2022. This annual release of Cabinet documents is generally seen as an exercise in transparency. This is because the public can get an insight into the issues considered by the government of the day and the advice given by various ministers.
It is all very well to release these Cabinet papers after 20 years, but I can't see how this delay in transparency contributes to an open and effective government. No one seems to be held accountable for poor past decisions.