Former MP John Price launches deep dive into NSW’s state‑owned shipbuilding from Newcastle dockyards

newy.com.au – Former NSW MP and long‑time shipyard engineer Hon Dr John Price AM has launched a new history of state‑owned shipbuilding at the University of Newcastle’s NUspace campus on Wednesday 10 December.

The book, titled Political Indifference and Maritime Policy Failure: The Demise of NSW State‑Owned Shipbuilding, traces the rise and fall of government‑owned shipbuilding in New South Wales through the 20th century, with a particular focus on Newcastle’s State Dockyard, which operated from 1942 until its closure in 1987.

The University of Newcastle hosted the launch for its former Deputy Chancellor and honorary Doctor of Letters, with Newcastle MP Tim Crakanthorp officially unveiling the work at NUspace in the city’s CBD.

“From a fitter in the shipyards to a long‑serving parliamentarian, John Price can now add author to his list of careers,” Mr Crakanthorp said at the launch.

“This book offers a unique insight into maritime policy, combining John’s two key areas of expertise,” he said, adding that Price “continues to be a strong advocate and representative of Newcastle”.

The University said Price brings a rare mix of practical and political experience to the subject, having started as an apprentice fitter and machinist at the State Dockyard in 1956 before working as a marine engineer and moving into senior management. He left the dockyard in 1982 as assistant general manager and engineering manager, later serving in the NSW Legislative Assembly as Member for Waratah from 1984 to 1999 and Member for Maitland from 1999 to 2007, including eight years as the Parliament’s first Deputy Speaker.

Price also has a long association with the University of Newcastle itself, serving for three decades on its Council, including time as Deputy Chancellor and as acting Chancellor in 2012–13, before being awarded an honorary Doctor of Letters in 2014.

At the heart of his book is Newcastle’s State Dockyard, the state‑owned shipbuilding and repair facility established at Carrington in 1942 on the site of an earlier government dockyard that had closed during the Depression. During the Second World War the yard launched its first vessel in 1943 and by the war’s end had built two ships for the Royal Australian Navy, 22 vessels for the United States and carried out repairs on about 600 ships.

The dockyard went on to construct around 95 vessels between 1942 and 1987 and remained a major manufacturing asset for New South Wales until its closure. Research held by the University of Newcastle shows that in the early 1960s the yard employed around 1,500 workers and paid more than £1 million in profit‑sharing dividends, while at its peak it employed about 2,400 men and women in shipbuilding and associated trades.

Ships launched from Carrington included the roll‑on/roll‑off ferry Princess of Tasmania, regarded as the first vessel of its type in the southern hemisphere and, at launch, the largest ship built in Australia, as well as Bass Strait cargo ships, Sydney Harbour ferries such as Lady Woodward and the Royal Australian Navy survey vessel HMAS Moresby.

Newcastle’s experience was part of a broader national pattern. After the war, State Dockyard was one of six major commercial shipyards operating across Australia, but as international competition intensified and government orders declined, large‑scale commercial shipbuilding became increasingly uneconomic and yards around the country either diversified or closed.

Price’s study appears as governments again talk about “continuous naval shipbuilding” and sovereign industrial capability. The federal Naval Shipbuilding and Sustainment Plan, released in 2024, commits up to $159 billion over a decade to maritime capability and forecasts the construction or upgrade of more than 70 vessels in Australia.

Price spent several years combing through historic records and reports from Walsh Island and the State Dockyard to prepare the work, motivated by a desire to preserve the Hunter’s shipbuilding heritage for future generations.

Political Indifference and Maritime Policy Failure: The Demise of NSW State‑Owned Shipbuilding is now listed in the National Library of Australia catalogue, adding a detailed local perspective to national debates about maritime policy, industrial strategy and the legacy of public ownership.