Australia - Claims that NBN is like the Snowy Mt Scheme are rejected as far fetched

[the australian] It'S far-fetched to compare the National Broadband Network to the Snowy scheme, says Angus Taylor.

THE government is arguing that the National Broadband Network will have the nation-building impact of the Snowy Mountains Hydro-Electric Scheme. The Snowy was exceptional in many ways and has had a lasting effect on our nation. Like the Snowy hydro scheme, the NBN requires a big chequebook, but that may be where the similarities end.

My interest in the issue is personal and professional. At the personal level, the legacy of the Snowy scheme has featured large in my life. My grandfather was William Hudson, head of the scheme from 1949 until 1967, just before completion. He headed the scheme with a passion, energy and drive that attracts the near-universal admiration of informed commentators (regardless of their view on the outcomes) and those who worked on the Snowy. He was commonly known as the "Old Man of the Snowy", and I well remember him and the values he stood for. The memories have shaped many of my views about leadership and management. At a professional level I have always been fascinated by the ingredients for the success of a government-owned scheme on this scale because there is no other quite like it.



More to nation building than big bucks