MS 9579 comprises correspondence, newspaper cuttings, press releases, photocopies, ephemera and printed material. The principal subjects are indigenous and race relations issues, reproductive rights, women and the Order of Australia, immigration, uranium mining, defence, drug law reform, peace movement and the Gulf War. The correspondents include fellow ministers, various organisations (such as Amnesty International, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission and Women's Electoral Lobby), Lowitja O'Donoghue, Father Frank Brennan, Noel Pearson, Pat Dodson and Kennedy Graham.