The Division worked co-operatively with Commonwealth and other NSW agencies concerned with the development and decentralisation of secondary industries, and maintained contact with manufacturers for the purposes of information exchange, fostering expansion and efficiency, and encouraging maximum employment.

[1] With post war reconstruction, control over building materials returned to the state governments.

Controls continued to be necessary in the post-war environment to ensure that State planning priorities (including the demands of population growth) were achieved and scarce resources were allocated equitably.

This was initially administered by the Building Materials Branch of the Department of Labour and Industry and timber distribution staff of the Forestry Commission.

A technical branch was established to stimulate and develop the various activities allied to the building industry, and to ensure the training of skilled tradesmen to enable the State’s housing program to be achieved.

[4] The principal responsibility of the Minister was the development, availability, production and standard of building materials particularly bricks, tiles and baths.

[7] Infrastructure was first represented at a portfolio level in the fourth Carr ministry, combined with Planning.