Anthony Albanese says missing Iraq War cabinet documents should not have been withheld

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese says the former Morrison government should have handed over cabinet documents related to the Iraq War to be released to the public, as an inquiry into why the records were kept secret begins.

Cabinet documents from 2003 were released on New Year’s Day as part of a regular program of annual dispatches by the National Archives of Australia.

But 78 records related to deliberations by cabinet’s national security subcommittee were not handed over when the then-Morrison government was required to do so three years ago, and were only found just days before the formal January 1 release.

Former defence minister Robert Hill, who was in cabinet in 2003, has said there was no reason those records should be kept secret and has supported their release.

The 78 confidential records have since been provided to the National Archives of Australia and will be released after vetting for ongoing national security concerns.

Mr Albanese said people deserved to know what was behind the former Howard government’s decision to go to war.

“Australians have a right to know the basis upon which Australia went to war in Iraq,” Mr Albanese said.

“My government believes this mistake must be corrected.”

In a statement by the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet the failure was attributed to “apparent administrative oversights” likely due to the outbreak of COVID-19 at the time of the transfer.

Former senior public servant Dennis Richardson was tasked with a rapid review of the transfer failure after the additional records were found.

The prime minister said Mr Richardson’s inquiry would determine whether the documents were kept secret in error, or whether they were intentionally covered up.

“That’s why we have asked Dennis Richardson to do the review,” Mr Albanese said.

He said Mr Richardson would report back within a fortnight.