Malcolm Fraser’s government faced significant challenges in 1978, despite a sweeping victory at the December 1977 election. Unemployment was close to 7 per cent and there were 20 unemployed for every vacancy. Inflation was falling, but it was still over 7 per cent.

Above all the budget deficit threatened to break out to unmanageable levels. Treasurer John Howard urged a major assault on areas such as welfare and defence, which would require the government to ‘bite the bullet’ on many hard options. The budget was presented on 15 August with a predicted deficit of $2.8 billion. It included a 1.5 per cent income tax surcharge, which largely negated the effects of the ‘fistful of dollars’ tax cuts promised in the 1977 election campaign.

Australia’s main foreign affairs initiative in 1978 was to host the first Commonwealth Heads of Government Regional Meeting, which was held at the Hilton Hotel in Sydney. The meeting was considered a success, but it was overshadowed by the explosion of a bomb outside the hotel in the early hours of 13 February, killing three people.

By May there were over 100,000 Indo-Chinese refugees in Thailand and 1200 refugees had already reached Darwin. It was not practicable to turn boats away from Australia or to compel refugees to return home. The only options were to encourage Southeast Asian governments to stop boats in transit or to establish a minimum facility reception centre in a remote area of Australia. Cabinet deferred the remote area reception option, but increased Australia’s annual intake of Indo-Chinese refugees to 10,500.

In Indigenous affairs there was a major conflict over the Aurukun and Mornington Island communities on the Gulf of Carpentaria. They had been managed for many years by the Uniting Church, but following an agreement to mine bauxite at Aurukun in 1975 the Queensland government decided that they should be taken over by the Department of Aboriginal and Islander Advancement. The communities challenged this decision successfully in the Queensland Supreme Court, but lost a subsequent appeal to the Privy Council. During 1978 there were prolonged and at times acrimonious negotiations between the Commonwealth and Queensland which eventually produced a compromise safeguarding the various interests.

For a full description of the Cabinet records including indexes, registers and records of meetings, refer to Fact Sheet 246 – Cabinet records of the Fraser government, 1975–83.

Submissions

The third Fraser ministry was sworn in after the re-election of the government in December 1977, and served through the whole of 1978.

During 1978 the Fraser Cabinet received 1014 submissions. Eight submissions were under consideration by Cabinet as the year ended. In addition 33 submissions were withdrawn completely, and 16 were withdrawn and replaced by another submission (15) or a Cabinet paper (one). One submission number (2047) was not used.

Cabinet submissions considered by the third Fraser ministry are held in series A12909.

A copy of the decision is attached to the submission within series A12909. Related material may be held in the Cabinet office file. Third Fraser ministry Cabinet Office files are held in series A10756.

Decisions

Cabinet decisions made by the third Fraser ministry are held in series A13075. This series includes copies of all decisions, both those made on a submission and those made without submission.

During 1978, 2888 Cabinet decisions were made. Nearly 47 percent of decisions – some 1347 – were made without submission.

Cabinet Office 'LC' files

Cabinet Office ‘LC’ files (in series A10756) contain the originals of the submissions, briefing papers and related decisions. They also contain departmental advice and exchanges between officials and ministers not included in the formal Cabinet papers. There is a file in this series for most submissions. Some of these files are already available, while there may be some delay with those that need to be access examined.

Cabinet papers

During 1976 the Fraser government introduced Cabinet papers as an additional category of Cabinet document. It had been an established practice for many years that ministers might, with the prior consent of the prime minister, introduce at a meeting a matter to which no formal submission had been made. These were termed ‘under the line’ matters and resulted in a decision without submission. Ministers frequently produced a variety of documents at the meeting to support an ‘under the line’ proposal or to provide general background information.

In 1976 the Cabinet Office decided that as these documents influenced decisions, they should be identified, controlled and copies retained. From 23 September 1976 the practice was introduced of registering and identifying such papers. They are held in series A12933. Cabinet papers were generally not written expressly for presentation to Cabinet.

The Cabinet papers category was discontinued in February 1979. The last Cabinet paper – number 846 – was registered on 23 January 1979. From February 1979 Cabinet papers were replaced by Cabinet memoranda which, unlike most Cabinet papers, were specifically written for presentation to Cabinet.

During 1978 Cabinet considered 612 Cabinet papers.

Departmental records

The detailed background papers and earlier drafts of the Cabinet papers being released can be found on the files of the department that sponsored each Cabinet submission. These papers reveal the detailed deliberations of the Public Service on the topic and often include the opinions and guidance of the responsible minister.

Records can be identified through the National Archives’ collection database, RecordSearch.

Most 1978 Cabinet submissions, papers and decisions have been wholly released for public access. A small amount of material in the Cabinet records has been withheld from public access. The table below 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 exempted under section 33(1)(a) of the Archives Act 1983 is withheld to protect Australia’s security, defence or international relations.

Information exempted under section 33(1)(b) of the Archives Act 1983 is withheld to protect information communicated in confidence by, or on behalf of, a foreign government.

Information exempted under section 33(1)(c) of the Archives Act 1983 is withheld because its release would have a substantial adverse effect on the financial or property interests of the Commonwealth and would not, on balance, be in the public interest.

Information exempted under section 33(1)(j) of the Archives Act 1983 is withheld because its release would adversely impact on the business, commercial or financial affairs of a person, organisation or undertaking.

Information exempted under section 33(2) of the Archives Act 1983 is withheld on the grounds of legal professional privilege and because its disclosure would be contrary to the public interest.

At the media briefing on the 1978 Cabinet records two speakers provided context and insight into the issues, events and personalities of 1978.

Dr Jim Stokes, the National Archives historical consultant, undertook extensive research of the 1978 Cabinet papers and provided a paper on the significant issues and events of 1978.

The Hon. Fred Chaney AO served as a Senator for Western Australia from 1974 until 1990 and was Member for Pearce (WA) in the House of Representatives from 1990 to 1993. He was appointed to the third Fraser ministry in August 1978 as Minister for Administrative Services and Minister Assisting the Minister for Education. Mr Chaney provided context and insight into the issues, events and personalities of 1978.

The third Fraser ministry (20 December 1977 – 3 November 1980) was the only ministry and Cabinet during 1978.

Third Fraser Cabinet

The third Fraser Cabinet was sworn in after the re-election of the government in December 1977 and served through the whole of 1978.

Members of the 1978 Cabinet are listed below. The roles and titles ascribed to them are those they held in 1978.

As had been the case with the earlier Fraser ministries, the Cabinet comprised some but not all members of the ministry. This practice has been continued by all subsequent ministries.

Cabinet committees

Cabinet committees were first formally established by Prime Minister Robert Menzies in 1950. Their role was to help Cabinet make decisions more expeditiously and efficiently by:

• having a committee of ministers sift through the issues and the facts then present Cabinet with a clear recommendation for action; and
• relieving Cabinet of much business of lesser importance.

Decisions made by a committee are indicated by the addition of the committee abbreviation to the decision number.

In 1978 the Fraser Cabinet had the following Cabinet committees:

The following table lists the key people in government in 1978 and other significant figures referred to in the selected Cabinet documents. Other figures from the period may be identified by consulting the Australian Government Directory 1978 (Australian Government Publishing Service, Canberra, 1978), the Australian Parliamentary Handbook (twentieth edition, AGPS, Canberra, 1978), or the Paliamentary Library's compilation of historical information on the Australian Parliament.

Some of the political figures in Australia in 1978 who are listed below are still active in the community. The roles and titles ascribed to them are those they held in 1978.

The selected documents illustrate the major issues the Fraser Cabinet addressed during 1978. Introductory notes are provided for each topic. The documents – sometimes excerpts only – include:

• submissions (series A12909)
• decisions (series A13075)
• papers (series A12933)

Every attempt has been made to reproduce high-quality images of the original archival documents. Sometimes, the result may not be fully legible due to the poor quality of the original document.

A full set of reference copies of the 1978 Cabinet submissions and decisions is held in the Cabinet room within the Canberra reading room. Related Cabinet Office files (series A10756) may also be requested for viewing in the Canberra reading room.

Use the links in the right-hand column to download the key documents. To view PDFs, you will need Acrobat Reader.

Personal records

The National Archives holds an extensive collection of Malcolm Fraser’s personal records. Details of these records can be found in RecordSearch. Enter Mr Fraser’s Commonwealth Person number (CP 51) into the field for ‘Reference numbers’, then select from the ‘Search’ dropdown menu to search ‘Series’.

The National Archives also holds personal records deposited by other members of the 1978 Cabinet. Details of these records can be found in RecordSearch. To search for these records enter the Cabinet member's name (for example, Margaret Guilfoyle) into the field for ‘Keywords (or name)’, then select from the ‘Search’ dropdown menu to search ‘Series’.

The Malcolm Fraser Collection at the University of Melbourne includes photographs and speeches relating to Malcolm Fraser’s political career.

Other records

The National Archives holds many records documenting Malcolm Fraser’s parliamentary career and prime ministership. Explore records of Malcolm Fraser in the prime ministers section of this website.

The Australia’s Prime Ministers portal provides a wealth of information on Malcolm Fraser’s life and career, with links to relevant records held by institutions around the country.

More on the 1978 Cabinet records

Erratum

Material on this page included a statement that three members of the Ananda Marga sect were imprisoned for their involvement in the 1978 Hilton Hotel bombing. The statement was incorrect and has been deleted.