The first was the state government’s initial non committal stance towards the development of the state’s burgeoning shipbuilding industry. At the time, the government’s policy focus was primarily on the macro-economic restructuring of the state’s economy away from its dependence on hydro-industrialisation , and not the growth requirements of the potential industry cluster.
The second key role was the state government’s development of the region’s reputation within the broader domestic maritime market as a national centre for maritime research. The Tasmanian government implemented a series of lobbying initiatives that resulted in the federal government providing additional funding to the Australian Maritime College and relocating its national maritime research institute (the CSIRO) to Hobart. These state government lobbying efforts were largely aimed at the federal government rather than the private sector, but their success had implications for the region’s ‘Factor Conditions’, ‘Related and Supporting Industry’, and ‘Local Demand Conditions’. The regional economy’s factor conditions were advanced by developing the region’s supply of human capital through both the generation of specialised employment and education within the broader industry.
The Tasmanian government’s enhancement of the region’s reputation helped to develop the demand conditions faced by the private sector shipbuilding firms, most significantly in the from of customers ready to import their products from interstate.