 The federal housing agreement of 1947 allowed the state government to proceed with a program of public housing construction and expansion which saw the Perth metropolitan area double in size between 1945 and 1960.Finally the success of the government of Ross McLarty in attracting foreign investment culminated in the signing of an agreement with BP to establish an oil refinery at the new industrial area of Kwinana (south of Fremantle).The lifting of the federal ban on the export of iron-ore in 1960 further boosted the economy.