John Gorton

I wonder how you do now.

now.Yeah, I think, you know, the, the advent of nuclear weapons changed everything, and we did not give up the idea of building our own nuclear weapon until 1970, where, uh, John Gorton basically gave way to the US and, and signed up to the Non-Proliferation Treaty.

The reason why we had embarked on a plan to build the Jervis Bay nuclear reactor was so that we could have the option of getting a nuclear weapon within seven years.

If we had that plant, we could-- the, the logic being we could get a nuclear weapon within seven years.

whose creamy sand and glistening cerulean water is so pristine that I frequently saw seals, whales and the occasional dark shark shape as I was taking my swim and hiking the headland loop.

In 1969, Prime Minister John Gorton had proposed building a nuclear power station smack bang on the end of this very promontory.

The site was cleared, the ocean outflow outlet was installed and the project was put out to tender.

But no tender was ever awarded because our 19th PM was replaced by the Right Honourable William McMahon in 1971 and McMahon immediately put the kibosh on the project.

It was a bipartisan effort across successive governments.

Prime Ministers John Gorton and Billy McMahon got the ball rolling modestly.

Gough Whitlam ran with it and Malcolm Fraser carried it over the line.

While it was better late than never, it also came so slowly that the tobacco companies had plenty of time to settle into new strategies.

Yeah

... and Harold Holt and John Gorton, who replaces him.

Yeah.

Some point it shifts decisively to Sydney.

And half of the telescope's construction funds came from the Australian government.

Now, on the day of the Apollo 11 landing, the prime minister of the time was John Gorton, and he made a surprise visit to Honeysuckle Creek, not Parkes.

Ah.

I'll explain why later.