Today we learn a little more about what John Howard's government faced in 2005 ... with the annual release of hundreds of cabinet documents by the National Archives.

They show a government spooked by terrorism in Bali and London ... and troubled by racial disharmony that boiled over on Cronulla Beach in Sydney.

• Guest: Philip Ruddock, Attorney-General in 2005, and a senior member of the Howard cabinet
• Producer: Jason Whittaker