Since the 1980s, Australia has undergone a quiet revolution in its national policy for manufacturing industry. Protectionism, the basis of policy for over a century and a strong tenet of Australian political culture, has been abolished and corrective policies phased in. These special industry plans, devised by the Labor Industry Minister Senator John Button, aim to facilitate structural adjustment and force competition, yet leave many Australian industries exposed to volatile world markets. This book is a historical and theoretical account of this transition from a protective to a corrective s