Overview
- Public Record Office Victoria opened 332 boxes of cabinet records on January 1 after the 30‑year closure expired, marking the state’s first public release of such papers.
- The files detail major decisions on poker machines, liquor liberalisation, early casino planning, tighter gun laws after the 1987 massacres, the BLF deregistration, sex work decriminalisation, and the Ash Wednesday response.
- The trove chronicles the 1990 sale of the State Bank of Victoria to the Commonwealth Bank, driven by risky lending at the Tricontinental subsidiary and weighing on the governments’ legacy.
- The papers trace sweeping institutional reforms under John Cain, including the creation of a cabinet office, establishment of a director of public prosecutions, enactment of freedom‑of‑information laws, and electoral changes enshrining one vote, one value.
- Analysts and editors say the release offers lessons for today’s leaders and fuels debate on transparency, with further cabinet openings scheduled for 2032 and 2041 under the 30‑year rule.