Abstract:An industry‐specific plan for the heavy engineering industry was introduced by the federal Labor government in 1986. It is an important subject for several reasons. Heavy engineering is a vital industry but receives little publicity. The manner of the plan's introduction is representative of Labor's priorities in its first period of office. The plan's character was exemplary in its forward‐looking emphasis on reconstruction. Finally, the adverse bureaucratic environment in which the plan operated provides salutary lessons for cost‐efficient and workable industry policy in the f