At the time, most major telescopes were located in the Northern Hemisphere, leaving the southern skies poorly observed.

British astronomer Richard van der Riet Woolley pushed for a large optical telescope for the Southern Hemisphere in 1959.

Gorton was supportive, and nominated the Australian National University and CSIRO as Australia's representatives in the joint venture; he was unsuccessful in his attempts to induce NASA to join the project.

Gorton brought the proposal before cabinet in April 1967, which endorsed the scheme and agreed to contribute half the capital and running costs.

An agreement with the British was finalised a few weeks later and a Joint Policy Committee started work on construction planning in August 1967.

It was then transported to Newcastle, England, where Sir Howard Grubb, Parsons and Co took two years to grind and polish the mirror's surface.

A fourth top-end was built in the 1990s to give a 2-degree field of view at prime focus, with 400 optical fibres feeding the 2dF instrument and its later enhancements AAOmega and HERMES.