Democracy Is Alive And Well, 'eh?

'Instead of picking fault, the Federal Government should be congratulated for listening to the people and pulling out of the sale of the Snowy (River Hydro Scheme.'

Oh, really? There's an interesting tack. This came from none other than the Victorian leader of the National Party, Peter Ryan. This (slightly paraphrased) sentence poured forth when 774 ABC morning presenter, the incendiary Jon Faine, had suggested that Mark Vaile is left looking dumb as a result of the Government pulling out of the scheme's sale. The Nationals' own Peter Hall, member for Gippsland in the Victorian Parliament himself said this: 'At the end of the day, the three governments involved have listened to the community and backed away from the sale which the Victorian Nationals said was unnecessary and unacceptable from day one.' (Source.)

Right. Anyone see anything amiss there? The party is congratulating itself for pulling out of something they didn't believe in. Excellent. Faine had taunted Hall by saying that the Nationals clearly didn't believe in the sale from a grass-roots level so why had they gone along with it? Ryan got extraordinarily narky and ended up looking a complete tool. Which isn't hard, it's not like he needed Faine's help.

The Federal (Coalition) Government owns 13% of the Snowy River Hydro-Electric system. The main shareholder, the NSW (Labor) Government, owns about 58% with the balance owned by the Victorian (Labor) Government. Now, of course, the Labor Party doesn't own it, but the government does, but if anyone really thinks that the PM has pulled out (to be closely followed by similar jelly-backs, Bracks and Iemma) because he had 'listened to the people' then they are sorely mistaken.

Because, you see, the PM is still going to sell Telstra and Medibank Private and despite nationwide opposition to the Industrial Relations disaster, he still went ahead with that. The sale of the Snowy was going to provide a large chunk of funding for the NSW and Victorian Labor Party to be re-elected. What bothers me most is that Bob Brown thinks that this proves democracy is alive and well. Has he not seen the link? Bracks and Iemma probably did but got on the bandwagon immediately, pulling out of the sale and grumbling that it probably shouldn't have happened in the first place.

A large part of the argument against the Snowy sale was emotional - Australians are rightly proud of the scheme, despite it's fairly hefty but acceptable environmental impact.

That impact - the near destruction of the Snowy River - was another of the hot topics and the one that has hurt the rural-focussed Nationals the most. Going back to the previous outburst, Faine had suggested that the PM had brow-beaten Federal National Leader Mark Vaile into the sale and this backflip made the increasingly hapless Vaile look weak on top of stupid (ref. AWB). The grass-roots opposition to the idea had a lot to do with a very, deeply, practical reason - water.

To have put what would undoubtedly have been a foreign interest or, worse, Macquarie Bank, in charge would have left many farmers in deep trouble indeed. To have a corporate entity control the flow of water down the Snowy is like handing a nuclear weapon to Iran. You're just giving them the opportunity to do something dumb.

And the rubbish that poured forth from pro-privatisation interests was extraordinary. They stick to the line that privatisation means operations are run more effectively and at no extra cost to consumers.

Oh, really? Victorians who use gas, power and public transport will disagree vehemently. NSW people who use roads will also be less than pleased with that construct. To take one companyo often used as a bright and shining example, QANTAS, all they've done is fire people and cost-cut to the point of ludicrousness. Fly them to LA and you'll see what I mean. You get a kids ice cream instead of a full-size one and planes that are feeling and sounding very old indeed.

Putting the Snowy in the hands of private interests was always going to be a hideous idea. The scheme makes money for all of the governments and should remain there. Likewise Telstra, Medibank and countless other businesses the government wants to unload should stay in our hands.

It's not about having nothing left to sell, it's about the preservation of services at reasonable prices. And the high likelihood of power prices being pushed north and farmers being pissed on was too great a risk for everyone. For once, we will benefit from Howard's game-playing but no-one will remind him of his words when he next refuses to back down on something he should.