Hon Lawrence Springborg MP Minister for Health GOVERNMENT

Level19 147·163 Charlotte Street Brisbane 4000 GPO Box 48 Brisbane 1 August, 2012 Queensland 4001 Australia Telephone +617 32341191 Facsimile +61 7 3229 ''731 Email [email protected]

Ms A Palaszczuk, MP Leader of the 80 George Street BRISBANE QLD 4000

Dear Ms Palaszczuk

I refer to your letter dated 30th July 2012 regarding the motion of the Queensland Parliament passed on 12 July 2012..

The motion of the Parliament clearly stipulates that material pertaining to Labor's $1.25 billion payroll debacle (all legal advice ... together with all associated Cabinet minutes and decisions ... ) be delivered to me, as the Minister for Health, before the first day of the next sittings (yesterday).

I have not been provided with that material; artd your letter does not propose to provide me with that material. Your letter simply imposes a series of impracticable artd unworkable conditions on merely sighting the material.

I am also aware that your office has been given formal advice from the Cabinet Secretary stipulating that it is his view that you cart vary arty terms of the release of this material "including allowing public disclosure oldocuments i(she {youl wishes".

I now seek your assurance that you will deliver to me the requested material on art unrestricted basis in line with the resolution of the State Parliament.

It is my intention to update the House on your compliance with the House's motion tomorrow. In accordartce with the discretionary powers the Cabinet Secretary has advised you have, I therefore seek confirmation from you prior to Thursday's Parliamentary sitting that you will be complying with the motion.

Yours sincerely

GBORG,MP c:_/ MP

30 July 2012

Hon Lawrence Springborg MP Minister for Health GPO Box 48 BRISBANE OLD 4001 /ft_ De7r 1fCfJAJ/f~~~ I refer to the motion moved by you in the Legislative Assembly on 12 July 2012, reported at page 1189 of the official Record of Proceedings. The motion provided:

That this House calls on the Leader of the Opposition to make available to the Minister for Health all legal advice presented to the cabinet of the former government that relates to the IBM contract, together with all associated cabinet minutes and decisions pertaining to that advice. Further, it calls on the Leader of the Opposition to deliver the material before the first day of the next sittings.

It is a longstanding convention in Queensland that current Ministers may not have access to cabinet documents produced by a past government of a different political party. The reasons for this are self-evident. Cabinet is bound by a collective responsibility which means cabinet decisions are binding on all Ministers as government policy. To fulfill their responsibility, Cabinet Ministers must be able to have frank, confidential discussions to resolve issues, and it is in the public interest that cabinet decisions remain confidential.

Cabinet documents are, however, released administratively after the passage of tirne. The Public Records Act 2002 was amended by the Labor government to reduce the administrative release period for Cabinet documents from 30 years to 20 years. Cabinet documents created after commencement of the Right to Information Act 2009 on 1 July 2009 will therefore be administratively released after 20 years, while cabinet documents created prior to 1 July 2009 will continue to be administratively released after 30 years. This is the protocol in place for release of confidential cabinet documents.

Section 4.15.5 of the Cabinet Handbook sets out the circumstances where a past government's cabinet records may be accessed by a present government.

I arn not persuaded that the continuity of administrafton aspect of your request for access to cabinet documents has been satisfied. I regard the protection of cabinet conventions as fundamental to our system of government. However, because of the confusion created by public speculation, fuelled by continuous reference to the documents, I have decided it is in the public interest to make the legal advice available to yourself.

I have decided that I will, on this occasion only, make available the legal advice presented to the Cabinet Budget Review Committee of the former government referred to in the motion of 12 July 2012, and the r·elevant decisions and minutes relating to this issue. My decision has been made having regard to the special circumstances of this case, and does not set a precedent for any further requests of this nature.

I hold the Convention covering the confidentiality of these cabinet documents to be a very serious consideration. The Cabinet Secretary has advised me that access to documents will only be provided in accordance with appropriate security procedures. As the Cabinet Secretary provided by way of written advice. ' ... the documents are released specifically for the purposes stated in the request, and on that basis they must not be copied, released or disclosed to any other party'. I have every confidence that you will respect cabinet confidentiality, and comply with the Cabinet Secretary's directions in this respect

As you are aware, the documents are in the custody of the Cabinet Secretary, in accordance with clause 4.15.5 of the Cabinet Handbook. I propose therefore that the documents be made available at the office of the Cabinet Secmtary at a mutually convenient time. The following documents may be perused by you there:

'" Legal advice from Mallesons contained in CBRC submissions 3962 and 3979 e Legal advice from Crown Law contained in CBRC submissions 3962 and 3979 ., CBRC decisions 3019, 3231 and 3040 relating to submissions 3962,4166 and 3979 and minutes of the CBRC meetings only insofar as they relate to this issue.

To maintain the confidentiality of the documents and in accordance with the instructions of the Cabinet Secretary referred to previously, you may physically sight the documents, but may not take notes from or copies thereof. Nor may you divulge their contents to any other person. To assist you in your perusal of the legal advices, I have requested that, in addition to yourself, the Crown Solicitor and Cabinet Secretary only be in attendance. As the Crown Solicitor has been involved in the provision of the legal advices, I have asked him to make himself available to explain any aspect of the advices that you may wish to have clarified.

Also, the Cabinet Secretary will be able to provide advice about any aspect of the conditions surrounding access to the cabinet documents. including any consequences that may flow should a breach of cabinet confidentiality occur.

I have written to both the Cabinet Secretary and the Crown Solicitor to advise them of my decision, and I have requested that they kindly make arrangements with your office to give effect to my instructions.

I was not a member of the Cabinet Budget Review Committee that considered these matters. I was not privy to the discussions pertaining thereto, and I was not a party to any decision made by the CBRC. Any reservations I hold in relation to allowing access to the documents are in ligl1t of my duty to uphold the conventions of cabinet.

This is a highly unusual matter, and my decision takes account of this fact. It has been rare that a request to access cabinet documents of a previous government has been acceded to, and this is only right. It should continue to be a mre occurrence. The protection of cabinet confidentiality and the conventions of government are significant to not only the Parliament, but also to the people of Queensland.

Yours sincerely

Annastacia Palaszczuk MP Leader of the Opposition.