Cabinet papers reveal the Howard government was warned of huge budget problems. But they were based on a major population miscalculation.
Today on Please Explain,senior economics correspondent Shane Wright joins Nathanael Cooper to look at some highlights of this year’s cabinet papers.
The Howard government grappled with the controversial visa application of rapper Eminem but while not many men could stop boxer Mike Tyson,the then prime minister managed it.
Previously secret cabinet documents from 2001 also showed concerns that Australia’s high per capita greenhouse gas emissions could be exposed by global debate on climate action.
Red fire ants,a particularly nasty insect,were found in Brisbane in 2001. The Howard government hoped to eradicate the threat in five years ... that was 20 years ago.
The political fortunes of the Howard government turned between St Patrick’s Day and Bastille Day in 2001,but at a huge financial cost to the federal budget.
Former prime minister John Howard enjoyed a strong relationship with former Chinese president Jiang Zemin,but he now says Australia will have to wait for change in China.
What became known as the Tampa affair was one of the most controversial episodes of the Howard government - and it redefined the politics of immigration.
John Howard and his government looked doomed. But then came events that changed everything,including hardening the way Australia saw its place in the world.
Agencies from the National Archives to the Auditor-General are struggling to track government communications in the time of WhatsApp and Wickr.
The so-called'kerosene baths scandal'dogged the Howard government for months and exposed flaws in the regulation of aged care homes.