Snowy 2.0: Turnbull declares he is a nation-building PM
Turnbull unveils plans for $2bn ‘Snowy 2.0’ but shareholder the Victorian government claims it wasn’t told in advance.
Malcolm Turnbull declared himself a “nation-building prime minister” as he announced plans to expand the iconic Snowy Mountains scheme, insisting his government was building on the “real courage” and “confidence” of Australians who built the engineering wonder.
While a feasibility study will determine the final design, the most likely new project will include a 27km tunnel and a large turbine hall about 600 metres below ground. It is expected to create 500 jobs.
Mr Turnbull urged other Snowy stakeholders — the NSW and Victorian governments — to contribute additional equity to the commonwealth’s $2 billion in funding, but said his government was committed and “very happy” to invest in the project on a commercial basis.
He spoke to NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian yesterday — who was “so excited” about the announcement — and Energy Minister Josh Frydenberg spoke to his Victorian counterpart Lily D’Ambrosio and Victorian Treasurer Tim Pallas.
However Ms D’Ambrosio claimed neither she nor Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews had been told anything about the Snowy announcement, despite Victoria owning a 29 per cent share in Snowy Hydro.
“Absolutely nothing,” she told the ABC.
“The news is what we heard on the radio, frankly, and what we woke up to this morning.
“This is the way that the Prime Minister is leading this country, so-called, when he comes up with ideas, doesn’t think them through, has no dialogue with the direct shareholders, the NSW government, the Victorian government, to work cooperatively on these issues, so you really have to wonder how serious he is in terms of trying to show some leadership when he lurches from one announcement to another actually not thinking through any of these issues at all.”
Mr Turnbull said after touring the Snowy’s biggest power plant, Tumut 3: “I am a nation building prime minister, believe me, and this is a nation building project. This is the next step in a great story of engineering and the Snowy Mountains and courageous men and women who were confident and committed to Australia’s future.
“This was the result of the vision and the courage of the generation that won the Second World War. They defended our freedoms, saved us and they came home and they built this. These are big dreams in these mountains.
“The capacity was there. All that was missing was leadership and money and my government has both. We share that vision, we are determined to ensure that Australians have affordable and reliable electricity.”
Snowy Mountains “2.0” will power the equivalent of 500,000 homes by adding 2000 megawatts of renewable energy — 50 per cent of the scheme’s current generation — to the National Electricity Market.
A feasibility study is expected to be completed by the end of this year and construction should begin in 2018, with Snowy Hydro estimating a four-year build.
Mr Turnbull said the hydro power generator was stabilising the electricity grid “all the time” and as early as last night, when two coal-fired generators “tripped”.
“These turbines swung into action and stabilised the grid,” he said. “They can take a lot of the volatility out of the energy market.”
Snowy Hydro CEO Paul Broad said his company was “incredibly” excited “not just (for) the one big project but at least three our four others that future generations will be able to bring online as the market changes again”.
It is not clear what the other projects involve.
Bill Shorten said earlier that the Snowy 2.0 scheme was “on its surface interesting and worthy of exploring”, but raised more questions than answers.
The Opposition leader said Australians needed to know whether the $2 billion proposition was just more talk from the Prime Minister, or a real plan.
“Is it really just going to be $2 billion or will the cost to Australians be much higher?,” Mr Shorten said.
“Have we got all the technical solutions worked out? How long will this measure take? Is it five years or 10 years? Is this just a feasibility plan for an unfunded scheme which will take the best part of a decade to come to fruition?
“Does it mean we should bury the idea? Labor wants to look at it.”
Mr Shorten also attacked Mr Turnbull’s negotiations yesterday with gas executives.
“Mr Turnbull last week warned the Australian people that we had a national gas crisis right now,” he said. “Not in half a decade or 10 years time.”
“Does this measure actually mean that there will be more gas available to Australian households and Australian manufacturing?
“Does this mean that the horrendous increase in the price of gas, is the price of gas going to go down?”
Mr Shorten spoke outside a paper mill in Tasmania which he said had experienced a 30 per cent increase in its gas prices in April last year alone.
“We see a doubling of the gas bill for manufacturers in Australia,” he said.
“What Mr Turnbull needs to tell us is what has happened to the gas emergency last week?
“What will this measure today do to solve the gas crisis which is threatening jobs and higher prices?”
