Twenty years ago, the Snowy Monaro region was in a battle to save a national icon, Snowy Hydro.

A national groundswell of people power effectively halted the sale.

In this two-part feature, The Monaro Post will relate the story of the failed campaign and how ordinary Australians won the day.

In November 2005, it was announced the State Government, led by Premier Morris Iemma, wanted to sell and publicly float the company.

At the time, Snowy was owned by three governments – the Federal Government owned 13 per cent, Victoria 29 per cent and NSW 58 per cent.

The sale could have netted NSW and Victoria $1billon and $800m respectively, which was an attractive proposition for two governments facing a deficit that year.

The proposal divided the community – some people stood to gain financially, others wanted to preserve the ‘icon’ in public hands both from practical and sentimental reasons.

The sale campaign began late in 2005, with a sale prospectus developed.

Opposition to the sale came from locals and from concerned citizens from around Australia and overseas.

Former Prime Minister, Malcolm Fraser, called it “privatisation gone mad”, but the Prime Minister, John Howard, believed if the states wanted to sell their shares, the Federal Government could do little to stop them.

Very vocal opposition dominated local public meetings and rallies were planned.

One meeting in Cooma on 30 April, 2006 attracted 350 people.

Leading the charge locally was ex-Snowy engineers, Max and Coral Talbot, Thredbo resident, Acacia Rose, Jindabyne’s Lee Taylor-Friend, Dalgety’s Angel John Gallard, local mayors, Roger Norton, and Richard Wallace, and former Snowy Commissioner, Vin Good. They were backed by hundreds of locals and ex-locals.

Concerns over the sale related to the security of water involved, the possibility of complete foreign ownership at the expense of Australians and the disposal of a perceived icon which had been an engineering and social marvel.

The Snowy “icon” status started to grow. Immense pressure was put on Member for Eden-Monaro, Gary Nairn, to use his influence with the Prime Minister to stop the sale.

A rally in Jindabyne on Sunday 28 May saw thousands of protesters in Banjo Paterson Park.

Another rally was planned for Sunday 4 June.

On 31 May, the Federal Finance Minister, Nick Minchin, suggested introducing legislation to protect the Snowy by limiting foreign ownership and control.

An editorial in the Cooma-Monaro Express asked Mr Nairn to step up on behalf of the community – “you are either with us or against us” the editorial stated.

On Friday 2 June, the Prime Minister announced the Federal Government had withdrawn from the sale, citing the “immense community reaction to this matter”.

The other governments fell like dominos and the protest rally planned for Sunday became a day of celebration in Centennial Park, Cooma.

Mr Howard’s announcement also stated "this decision to sell the Snowy Hydro has created significant unhappiness, concern and unrest throughout the Australian community".

He went on to say, "in addition, there are a number of outstanding Snowy Water Licence issues which are creating uncertainty and affect the interests of the environment, farmers, irrigators and all those who depend on the health of the Murray Darling Basin".

“The Australian Government has decided that the sale of its 13 per cent share will not deliver long term benefits to the country,” he said.

In 2017, Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull announced the start of Snowy 2.

The future of Snowy Hydro as an Australian asset was firmed up in 2018, when the Federal Energy Minister, Josh Frydenberg, vowed to keep the Snowy Hydro in public hands after the Commonwealth struck a deal to buy Victoria and NSW’s shares in the hydro-electric power plant.

It was announced the government would pay NSW around $4 billion for its share and Victoria $2 billion for its smaller stake, giving the Commonwealth total ownership and control.

See part two in next week’s paper, where the locals who mobilised the ‘no’ campaign, will tell their stories.