Local contractors left out in the cold

In Adaminaby in the Snowy Mountains region of NSW, workers dressed in high-vis are sardined along the bar of the Snow Goose Hotel after 12 hours labouring on the Snowy Hydro 2.0.

Cement maker Marco Revelant with his dog Chocolate. Picture: Jane Dempster

In the small blink-and-you’ll miss it town of Adaminaby in the Snowy Mountains region of NSW, dusty-faced workers dressed in high-vis are sardined along the bar of the Snow Goose Hotel nursing cold beers after 12 hours labouring on the Snowy Hydro 2.0.

The pub is the first watering hole on the main road out of the Kosciuszko National Park, and business is booming.

The pub – which includes 25 hotel rooms out the back, all full on a weeknight in February – is a goldmine, despite three years of Covid-induced disruption and bushfires which wiped out a steady stream of business from the nearby Selwyn ski field.

Snow Goose Hotel publican Andrew Smith said businesses in the 200-person town have welcomed the Snowy 2.0 project, with many being unable to weather the pandemic and fires without it.

“It has been very beneficial for the area and local communities,” Mr Smith said. “Employment of local people is high, accommodation suppliers and local businesses have certainly welcomed the extra customers. Land and residential housing prices continue to rise. It continues to be, a prosperous project for most here in Adaminaby.”

But despite the former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull having spruiked the benefits of Snowy 2.0 when he announced the scheme in 2017 – promising cash injections to the region which includes the NSW townships of Cooma, Jindabyne and Tumut – it’s a mixed picture on the ground.

When the project’s main works were approved in 2020, the then NSW deputy premier John Barilaro said the project would inject $4.6bn into regional NSW and create up to 2000 new jobs, with 100 local businesses already involved. But four years on, the majority of workers on the project are fly-in-fly-out, which has left local contractors disgruntled.

Many workers who were employed at the start – thrilled by the prospect of good income and sustainable flow of work – have now had their jobs replaced by external workers, with the majority hired by Leed Engineering which is one of the largest contractors working on the Snowy 2.0 project.

Cooma cement manufacturer Marco Revelant was first engaged in 2019 to supply cement to a major construction site at Lobs Hole, near the lower Talbingo dam for Snowy Hydro 2.0.

While working for the project, Mr Revelant’s business was producing three times more cement than it would normally make during the company’s busiest month. But once Snowy Hydro 2.0 and its building partner Future Generation were able to set up its own cement plant onsite, Mr Revelant was let go. The same thing happened at other sites.

“I think the basics were well thought out, and it’s a sound philosophy, but the execution could have been a lot more organised,” Mr Revelant said. “Don’t be in such a hurry until all your ducks are in a row.”

When announced, the Turnbull government promised first power in 2021 at a cost of $2bn.

But with the project expected to blow out to nearly $6bn and completed at the end of 2027, local workers say there were delays and mismanagement by Snowy Hydro and Future Generation.

The Australian spoke to eight workers who were contracted by the scheme who waited up to six months to be paid, with some crippled by the lack of cashflow.

Many workers would not speak publicly over fears they could lose future work opportunities with Snowy Hydro 2.0.