Country of fear: Australia of 2002 was preoccupied with national security

The new laws delivered sweeping powers to intelligence and police forces, and Australia was preparing to join the US in Iraq.

The 2002 cabinet records, released on Sunday by the National Archives of Australia, shed light on a year when the country was in the grip of the millennium drought and Ansett finally shut up shop. Queen Elizabeth II visited and met the governor general, Peter Hollingworth, as pressure mounted for an inquiry into his handling of child sexual abuse claims while he was head of the Anglican church (he would resign the next year).

The former senator Amanda Vanstone was then in cabinet as family and community services minister. Speaking before the release of the papers, she said while many things have changed since 2002, much remains familiar and unresolved.

But the cabinet documents show that in 2002 those chronic issues were overshadowed by the more acute ones of terrorism, national security and the (sometimes conflated) issue of asylum seekers.

There were hunger strikes in the Woomera detention camp, where some asylum seekers sewed their lips together in protest at their incarceration, and the federal government was still dealing with the fallout from Siev X and Tampa and struggling to find a workable policy on long-term detainees.

Lee said this illustrated that not everything that is important to a nation goes to cabinet.

One briefing recommended more support from the Australian Defence Force for anti-terrorism operations, warning of possible attacks on Australian soil.

Since 11 September, more than 96 new terrorism laws have been introduced.

Vanstone remains unapologetic about his detention.

Vanstone called on people judging the actions of governments to try to put themselves in the cabinet room, where nuanced debates were had and making a submission could be all consuming.

Vanstone said she still agreed with that position.

The protocol was ultimately signed when the the Rudd government came to power in 2007.

Vanstone said people might be surprised by the amount of time the cabinet of 2002 gave to the environment, water quality and the Great Barrier Reef.

Lee said there were 468 cabinet submissions in 2002, but due to a lack of resources, only about 250 could be released each year. Several are partly redacted and others remain closed for reasons generally to do with national security.

After 1 January, anyone can apply for further releases.