Like Peter Dutton, John Gorton once had a nuclear plan. It didn’t end well
- Written by Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra
If history had taken a different turn, Australia might now not be debating nuclear power but have had it up and running for decades.
John Gorton, who was prime minister from 1968 to 1971, was a true believer in nuclear. His biographer Ian Hancock wrote that Gorton “visualised the generation of cheap electricity, and fuel for transport of...





