Sell the Snowy?

[ho-hum]

Time to get active folks!

Between them NSW & Victoria own 87% of the Snowy River Scheme and they now intend to sell it.

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,18181209-28737,00.html

In a world with rapidly diminishing water reserves we are about to hand our biggest reserves over to big business. Whilst the catchcry is all about power generation, have no fear, big business knows the value of getting hold of water rights. These two state govts wish to sell this NATIONAL asset to build schools & hospitals. BULLSHIT, if they needed money to build schools and hospitals they could borrow against this asset.

Get familiar with what is happening and dont let corporations [even aussie ones] control one of the basic elements of life. We as a nation have already paid for this development in money and blood. Over 100 died during the construction of this mighty project.

The current deflective spin about this project is that they are selling a power scheme and only that. This is true but this will give the purchaser the rights to what and where the water goes for the next 70 years. You can see that they will soon stop any environmental flows - we will have to buy our own water back. This company will control the headwaters of the Murray, Murrumbidgee, Snowy & Eucumbene Rivers and literally have the power of God over the downstream man-made and ecological communities.

If anyone has an email list for state and fed politicians it would be handy to post it here.

floot

[jackie]

It's quite rude really and has no forsight. Once these pudlic assets are gone we can't get them back. They belong to all of us and to think a government with a 4 year term can sell something held by all of us for short term improvements to things our taxes are supposed to cover. Oh but I forgot if we all get a tax cut we may just be happy to vote for them again. I think governements are putting a price on every thing even votes.
An interesting argument for not writing to your polititians can be found at http://www.lifeaftertheoilcrash.typepad.com. The main point of chaper 1 of the article is that politicans are also bought and that you need to be convincing those in your society with big money. As they have the ultimate control. Synical yes, realistic, sadly yes also.
Food for thought any way.
It's just started raining outside, I wonder who owns that as it falls to the earth?

[Richard on Maui]

Well, there is one way to take them back... REVOLUTION! :lol:

[heuristics]

Flootie I'm guessing you saw the ABC-TV Landline segment "Snow-Job" on Sunday (transcripts on ABC-TV Landline website for those interested).

The world really is upside-down in a crazy-spin when a Federal pollie (Bill Bloody Heffernan, no less!!!!!!!) is BEGGING people to “take to the streets” to protest to stop this...... !!!! (Big Bill makes Ghengis Khan seem a limp-wristed lefty wimp).

I was sorry I had no knowledge of the Penrith meeting the Landline program showed snippets of --- so few people, so many empty chairs – had I known I coulda gone along......
And the people who WERE there were – pardon me - all old fogies – a small sea of grey-haired heads. These are the people protesting?? They will be dead in 10-15 years – the people who SHOULD be ANGRY and raging in the streets are the 15- 40 year olds. It is THEIR water and THEIR birthright and THEIR future that is being squandered and stolen right from under their noses....
A water licence for 72 years B-L-O-O-D-Y HELL!!

And Floot you are so right – guess who is behind the “corporatisation” for this scheme?
Macquarie Bank. Guess who owns the now internationally famous Beaconsfield gold mine?
Guess which company the former NSW Premier (Bob Carr) now works for? Are these things connected?

There is squillions to be made by the corporate brokers/bankers and wankers in just the “privatisation” process.... these people dont care about anything but the next big deal.. how can we seriously all be so complacent to let this thing go ahead?

Yet I believe the “pre-registration” for stock took place yesterday – Sunday! (May 21) – they are wasting no time, cause they know once “the people” wake up, they will want this stopped.....
so much for “government by the people FOR the people” here we have 3 bloody governments -2 state, one Fed – working smoothly together like con-job thieves to get their hands on some cash.

There are other options - NSW could get $200 million just borrowing on the future profits of the scheme. - no need to sell at all -
And doncha love the emotional appeal of “there'll be money for schools and hospitals” BULLSHIT.

[ho-hum]

Heuristics,


I missed Landline on Sunday which very unusual. I had read snippets and as a result of a discussion posted that stuff. All is not lost, I am home from work and just watched the replay. [Nice to see our GG out bush too. I am sick of we rural folk being seen as largely uneducated hicks. All too often this is the TV stereo-type.]

Anyway, another great Landline episode. Interesting to see the journalist at a bit of a loss about the lack of reaction too. I find the whole situation a bit surreal especially after the plight of Goulburn this past year and the plight of the Murray River towns over the past decade have been well aired.

I doubt, given the current state of affairs that there will ever be another dam built anywhere in the Northern Territory. Darwin has a fairly small one called Manton Dam which was built around WW2 for 'military purposes'. We are hostage in the Northern Territory to southern green & aboriginal opinion - every Australian is a stake-holder in the NT.

We need to develop that sort of perspective and apply it to the Snowy
Mountain Scheme, it has taken decades to get it to pay and finally it is working for the very folk who paid for it. I sincerely hope that the short-sighted fools in Sydney & Melbourne will never ask me to tip my tax-payer money into solving a problem that we KNOW will eventuate.

I dunno who it was but one of the spokesman on that report stated that the water value will exceed the power value in a few short years. More people need to realise this.

floot

[heuristics]

Interesting to see the journalist at a bit of a loss about the lack of reaction too.


“lack of reaction” - but WHO is there to protest?
The corporates are rubbing their hands in glee at the prospect of short-term megabucks.... the pollies are 'tween elections and know if they can get this thing thru ASAP they can hope it will be forgotten by the next election, and if not – too bad, it's a done deal.
And among the pollies – who is there to quibble? Two Labor State govts in cahoots with a Fed Lib government. They say politics makes strange bedfellows, and never was there a more stupendous example.
And I am wondering that surely with these 3 govts working as a tag-team, any powerful interest groups like the Farmers Federation or whatever have all been “”””bought off””” if not in actual cash than with other inducements or threats of treats and toys being taken away.
With the players aligned here – just about every interest and lobby group would have been “taken out” of the debate even before it hit the public domain.

[Richard on Maui]

Scary stuff. Maybe it will provoke the population to REVOLUTION! :D Probably not... :? :cry:
Well it did happen in Bolivia, right? :)

[barely run]

COME THE REVOLUTION BROTHER....WE'RE INVADING MAUI

more seriously is there somewhere we can complain to email ring etc etc

I have been slack too expecting the Greens or conservation Aust or similar to protest....but all is quiet

Cathy

[macree]

I have an email (together with pollies addresses) that I'm sending on to anyone interested in doing a little on line activism re this issue. PM me if you want a copy.

Cheers

Ree

[ho-hum]

Fuck 'em.

As of monday the Snowy is up for sale.

floot

[Alex M]

It's a done deal, alright. And I have no doubt that the ultimate owner has already been decided. :evil:

http://www.abc.net.au/rn/nationalintere ... 649199.htm (http://www.abc.net.au/rn/nationalinterest/stories/2006/1649199.htm)

[Keljohn]

Sounds like everyone is enraged at what both Labor and Liberal - each side of the political fence - are doing to this country. But as their masters are the financial interests that are moving to loot whatever they can to support a failing financial system then we have to use a different tactic than just railing against what they are doing. Under globalisation everything is to be privatised - health, education, road, rail, air, water, and any other resource. there will even be plans to privatise our armed services, as is already happening in the US. And they will resort to anything, such as the lies they used to send our young men off to fight a war which noone can win - only endless war, where everything is smashed as in E Timor. But [http://www.cecaust.com.au/] has been fighting for an Australian National Bank to issue credits which will finance new infrastructure projects across the country. And they need your support so that we can organise the Australian people about what is really going on. Don't forget, it started with the Labor Party selling off our Commonwealth Bank, set up to finance the likes of the Snowy. Who cried out then? We can change this if we stop thinking single issue and realise this affects everything - especially the future generations.[/url]

[Alex M]

For sale: One Goose. Lays golden eggs. Price: one golden egg.

I think Keljohn is right about looting. I think we're being conned.

I would like to know: Why is it necessary to sell the Snowy Hydro Corporation? What alternatives to sale have been considered, and why were they rejected? Why is there such a hurry to sell it without consulting the people who own it and have most to lose if the deal is botched?

Anyone got any idea?

[Keljohn]

The thing is that whatever operation buys it. Even if they sell it back to the people who already own it - ourselves - then they are getting it pretty cheap at $4 bil, (only $US 2bil). On a conservative estimate it would cost between $A30 and $A40 bil to rebuild it at todays costs, especially as raw materials have risen by 60% in US dollars. With foreign ownership laws being deregulated, it would'nt be long before it was in the hands of some hedge fund that are buying anything that they can split off into smaller parcels. Because they're the only financials with any funds left - being supported with investments from pension funds like our superannuation funds - we may in fact be already buying it back with our own super funds - which will be moving into negative returns as more of these hedge funds go bust. There is no way that anyone will win under the deregulation of globalisation. Already irrigators in the MIA, even owning water rights are finding that the water costs are putting them out of business. If we lose them it will be disastrous for our balance of payments, as this area alone returns millions from exports.
Australian govts (and this means the beaurocrats that supply them with the legislation) are so committed to free trade and globalisation, that the only way they will change is if the Australian people put them out of office. And don't think that a change of govt to the Labor Party will change anything. It will probably be worse under Beasley with their environmental policies.

[Keljohn]

By the way, does anyone want to buy my grandfather's shoes. They might be worth 10cents on the dollar - dirt cheap. Seriously, I don't think that there are really many dollars left, that aren't already commited to the failing mortages. How many mums and dads paid good money to buy back Telstra (even though they already owned it) and then found their shares were only worth half as much as they paid? What sort of looting operation was that? Who will buy the balance? A fire sale? Maybe that's why the Snowy is being offered at a crash-em-and-burn-em price. Will the mums and dads get caught again? Any assets left to sell off? Whom does your govt actually represent anyway? Certainly not the Australian people.

[heuristics]

Saw on the Crickey.com.au website NSW Govt is looking at a new strategy to seel the "trading"component of the Snowy scheme, but keep the infrastructure..

Keeps your eyes pealed, pls, for this one. The Bastards arent finished yet....