Currently, plasterboard is used in over 90% of walls and ceilings in
new homes and apartment construction in the eastern states of
Australia.  (90% of total wall and ceiling usage in terms of square
metres; the other 10% is alternative materials such as fibre cement).

We also know that plasterboard started being manufactured in Australia around 1947.

(see:     http://www.csr.com.au/csr/facts/default.asp?fact=Facts_Plasterboard.htm 
and
            http://www.chrissavage.com.au/history2.htm )

Specifically, I would like to be able to get some idea of how long
(months, years) it has taken for plasterboard to reach this 90% level
of use.  The ideal answer would include some quantitative measures of
this (i.e. % usage or estimated total plasterboard usage per year) in
a tabular format with as much history as possible.

The qualitative things I would be interested in knowing would be:

-          What were the dominant wall / ceiling linings prior to the
adoption of plasterboard ?

-          What were the catalysts (i.e. economic, regulatory,
cultural, etc.) which drove the adoption of plasterboard for wall and
ceiling linings?

Please note that the quantatative aspect of the answer is the most important.

Bet Big fires and deforestation had a role.