Politics
A political campaign began, which aimed to increase the water flow from 1% to 28% of its original flow from the dam at Jindabyne. An independent candidate from the East Gippsland district, Craig Ingram, was elected to the Victorian Legislative Assembly in 1999 and re-elected in 2002 and 2006, on a platform to increase the flow of water in the Snowy River.
After Ingram was elected to office, rather than attempt to increase water-flow, he became instrumental in the corporatisation of the Snowy Scheme, swinging the Victorian Government to sign the legislation. Although the Victorian, NSW and Federal governments promised that corporatisation would not lead to privatisation, in November 2005 they announced their intention to sell Snowy Hydro through a public float. Community groups rallied to stop the sale of Snowy Hydro and by June 2006 the Australian Prime Minister withdrew the Commonwealth's intention to sell Snowy Hydro.
Read more about this topic: Snowy River
Famous quotes containing the word politics:
“When feminism does not explicitly oppose racism, and when antiracism does not incorporate opposition to patriarchy, race and gender politics often end up being antagonistic to each other and both interests lose.”
—Kimberly Crenshaw (b. 1959)
“I played by the rules of politics as I found them.”
—Richard M. Nixon (1913–1995)
“Politics is repetition. It is not change. Change is something beyond what we call politics. Change is the essence politics is supposed to be the means to bring into being.”
—Kate Millett (b. 1934)