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Victoria Opens 332 Boxes of CainKirner Cabinet Papers in First Public Release

The opening marks a new level of archival transparency that lets Victorians see Cabinet decision-making that shaped the state.

Overview

  • The archive reveals deliberations on poker machines, liquor law liberalisation, early casino planning, and tighter gun laws after the 1987 Hoddle Street and Queen Street massacres.
  • Records detail the 1990 sale of the State Bank of Victoria to the Commonwealth Bank, financed by privatising 30% of the buyer after losses linked to Tricontinental.
  • Papers chart Cain-era administrative reforms, including a cabinet office, a director of public prosecutions, freedom of information laws, and electoral changes to one vote, one value.
  • Cabinet files cover deregistration of the Builders Labourers Federation, decriminalisation of sex work, the Ash Wednesday bushfires response, and projects such as the MCG Southern Stand rebuild and Melbourne Park.
  • Public Record Office Victoria set a schedule for future releases, with Kennett’s papers due in 2032, Bracks and Brumby in 2041, and Baillieu in 2042 before annual 30‑year openings begin.