New opportunities were emerging. The Commonwealth Prime Ministers' Conference in 1946 in London looked to a general sharing of technical development between Britain and the Dominions, and the war time bombing of Great Britain had convinced many that its defence industrial capacity should be located in less vulnerable areas. The Australian government saw this as an opportunity to acquire technology and manufacturing resources.[31] British industry, however, had its own ideas on the matter and the broad concept was abandoned.

Nevertheless, the discussions had directed attention to the capabilities and resources of the Dominions. Recognising that continued development of the atom bomb, rockets, radar, and jet engines would put a great load on its resources, the British government proposed at the Commonwealth Conference to enlist the aid of the Dominions in future developments.

Co-ordination was attempted through the Commonwealth Advisory Committee on Defence Science (CACDS) and the Commonwealth Aeronautical Advisory Research Council (CAARC). The former became limited to such items as clothing and general stores, and food preservation.[32] The latter spanned the whole gamut of aeronautical engineering and some valuable projects were undertaken in structures, materials and engine intakes.[33] These multilateral activities were to be weakened later by changes in the nature of the British Commonwealth.

Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering