A Guide to the 1989 State Cabinet Records Prepared by the State Records Office of Western Australia Contents Introduction: 2 A Description of the 1989 State Cabinet records: 3 World Events that Made the News in 1989: 5 Australian Events that Made the News in 1989: 6 Events and Issues in WA in 1989: 7 Members of State Cabinet in 1989: 8 List of topics and subjects discussed by State Cabinet in 1989: 11 1 Introduction Each year the State Records Office of WA (SRO) publishes an online Guide to State Cabinet records which have been released from their 30-year restriction access period in the previous calendar year. This year’s Guide comprises information from Cabinet minutes and decisions from 1989. State Cabinet records are historically significant documents which reveal the decisions made by the government of the day. These unique records are the primary source documents for information about the issues raised at Cabinet meetings. This online Guide is intended to assist the Western Australian community with access to these records. This online Guide also provides an overview of Western Australian state issues in 1989, as well as highlighting a few of the more prominent national and international news events of that year for context. A list of the topics and subjects discussed at each meeting of State Cabinet in 1989 is provided in this Guide to encourage further research into the records. This list includes a link to the State archives online catalogue to enable online requests to order, view and digitise relevant records – see https://archive.sro.wa.gov.au/ Unlike the release of Cabinet papers at the Commonwealth level, where records comprising more sensitive information can be embargoed beyond the restriction access period for the remaining records, all of the State Cabinet records for Western Australia are released for public access 30 years after the records are created. N.B. This year (2020) the Guide to the 1989 State Cabinet Records has been produced with the assistance of Ms Michelle Lam, a student from the University of Western Australia through a McCusker Centre for Citizenship internship at the SRO. Ms Lam researched the 1989 State Cabinet Minutes and Decisions, and an Index to these records, compiling and drafting the list of Cabinet meeting subjects (see pp.11 - 36) during her placement at the SRO. The State Records Office of Western Australia (SRO) State Cabinet Records are held by the SRO, the authority responsible for identifying, managing, preserving and providing the community with access to the State’s Archives. This Guide and selected digitised papers can be accessed online at https://www.wa.gov.au/organisation/state-records-office-of-western-australia. All 1989 State Cabinet papers can be viewed by appointment at the Battye Library for West Australian History at the State Library and State Archives in the Perth Cultural Centre. Research appointments can be booked online at https://www.wa.gov.au/organisation/state-records-office-of-western-australia/new- research-support-service 2 Description of the 1989 State Cabinet Records The primary set of State Cabinet records referred to in this Guide is called ‘Cabinet Minutes and Decisions.' State Cabinet Minutes and Decisions include agendas and submissions to Cabinet and are listed chronologically. They record the meetings of State Cabinet held between 03 January and 18 December 1989 inclusive, and are described in the State archives online catalogue as State Cabinet Minutes and Decisions (Series 1228, Consignment 4736). Other State Cabinet records which complement the Minutes and Decisions, include Cabinet Meeting Summaries for 1989 (Series 1228, Consignment 48236, items S07 and S08), and submissions, reports and other accompanying documents to the Minutes and Decisions, each of which is described as a “Cabinet Record (Series 1228, Consignment 6150. Cabinet Minutes and Decisions State Cabinet Minutes and Decisions are the primary original source documents that reveal government decisions made at Cabinet meetings. These documents contain the names of the Ministers present and absent at each meeting, supporting reports, copies, summaries or reviews of submissions, and a record of ministerial recommendations, and relevant decisions, approvals, deferrals and rejections by State Cabinet. Location: State Records Office of Western Australia Reference: Series 1228, Consignment 4736 (files 1989/054 V1 -1989/664 v3). Quantity: 31 files Series 1228 – Cons 4736 File Number Dates Cabinet Minutes and Decisions 1989/054 V1 03/01/1989 - 09/01/1989 Cabinet Minutes and Decisions 1989/054 V2 16/01/1989 - 30/01/1989 Cabinet Minutes and Decisions 1989/054 V3 13/02/1989 - 07/03/1989 Cabinet Minutes and Decisions 1989/054 V4 13/03/1989 - 28/03/1989 Cabinet Minutes and Decisions 1989/197 V1 03/04/1989 - 01/05/1989 Cabinet Minutes and Decisions 1989/197 V2 08/05/1989 - 15/05/1989 Cabinet Minutes and Decisions 1989/197 V3 22/05/1989 - 29/05/1989 Cabinet Minutes and Decisions 1989/197 V4 06/06/1989 - 12/06/1989 Cabinet Minutes and Decisions 1989/272 V1 19/06/1989 – 26/06/1989 Cabinet Minutes and Decisions 1989/272 V2 03/07/1989 Cabinet Minutes and Decisions 1989/272 V3 10/07/1989 Cabinet Minutes and Decisions 1989/272 V4 18/07/1989 Cabinet Minutes and Decisions 1989/292 V1 24/07/1989 Cabinet Minutes and Decisions 1989/292 V2 31/07/1989 Cabinet Minutes and Decisions 1989/292 V3 07/08/1989 – 21/08/1989 Cabinet Minutes and Decisions 1989/292 V4 28/08/1989 – 29/08/1989 Cabinet Minutes and Decisions 1989/379 V1 04/09/1989 Cabinet Minutes and Decisions 1989/379 V2 11/09/1989 Cabinet Minutes and Decisions 1989/379 V3 18/09/1989 Cabinet Minutes and Decisions 1989/379 V4 25/09/1989 3 Cabinet Minutes and Decisions 1989/380 V1 03/10/1989 Cabinet Minutes and Decisions 1989/380 V2 10/10/1989 Cabinet Minutes and Decisions 1989/380 V3 16/10/1989 Cabinet Minutes and Decisions 1989/380 V4 23/10/1989 Cabinet Minutes and Decisions 1989/547 V1 30/10/1989 - 31/10/1989 Cabinet Minutes and Decisions 1989/547 V2 06/11/1989 Cabinet Minutes and Decisions 1989/547 V3 13/11/1989 Cabinet Minutes and Decisions 1989/547 V4 20/11/1989 - 21/11/1989 Cabinet Minutes and Decisions 1989/664 V1 27/11/1989 – 28/11/1989 Cabinet Minutes and Decisions 1989/664 V2 04/12/1989 – 11/12/1989 Cabinet Minutes and Decisions 1989/664 V3 18/12/1989 4 World Events that Made the News in 1989(1) 1989 opened with the death of Japan's emperor Hirohito, the departure of President Ronald Reagan from the White House, and the arrival of his replacement George W. Bush. Other notable regime changes in 1989 included the election of F. W. de Klerk as South Africa's National Party leader and his eventual term as president of South Africa. His election would initiate a series of reforms that would lead to the dismantling of apartheid and the release of Nelson Mandela. Foreshadowed by Mikhail Gorbachev's appointment in 1988, George H. W. Bush and Gorbachev declared the Cold War between the US and the Soviet Union over on 3 December, putting an end to over 40 years of geopolitical tension between the two powers. Accompanying this was the demolition of the Berlin wall on 10 November, beginning the process of reunifying Germany after its split in the aftermath of World War II. These two events are considered to have heralded the fall of communism in Eastern and Central Europe. In this same year, Francis Fukuyama published his famous essay "The End of History?", where he declared democracy as the "final form of human government," a nod to the decline of Communism and the ascendancy of democracy as the only legitimate governance system. Elsewhere in the world, enormous upheavals took place. February saw an end to the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan, with the last troops leaving Kabul on 15 February. April saw the beginning of the Tiananmen Square protests, where thousands of university students protested against the Communist government of China, demanding greater democracy. The first mass demonstration against the Communist regime in East Germany also took place on 7 October. In 1989 the launch of the World Wide Web in the public domain by CERN scientist Tim Berners-Lee marked a change in the way the world would work forever. 5 Australian Events that Made the News in 1989(1) The Hawke government continued to govern the country in 1989 and faced a number of key issues during that year, including rising inflation and a escalating national debt. As Australia's net national debt reached $100 billion in August and interest rates rose to 17%, the Hawke government reduced spending, including State grants and loans. 1989 saw the introduction of HECS (Higher Education Contribution Scheme), a system under which the government would cover the balance of a student's tertiary education, and the student could gradually repay that debt through the tax system. This also accompanied the gradual reintroduction of university fees, after the Whitlam government abolished them in 1974. The pilot’s dispute, considered one of the most costly industrial actions to have ever taken place in Australia, was organised by the Australian Federation of Air Pilots in order to achieve a 30% wage increase. As pilots were held to the same wage fixing laws as other occupations, pilots claimed that they should have the same working conditions and chose to fly only during normal working hours of 9 am - 5 pm. This resulted in Prime Minister Hawke declaring a state of national emergency and allowing Royal Australian Air Force Pilots and overseas pilots to provide services.