Snowy Mountains Scheme Sixtieth Anniversary Reunion

Mr STEVE WHAN (Monaro—Minister for Emergency Services, Minister for Small Business, and Minister for Rural Affairs) [5.48 p.m.]: Tonight I acknowledge the hard work done by the community and the community committee, led by Wally Mills, in organising the sixtieth anniversary reunion for the Snowy Mountains Scheme. Last weekend was the sixtieth anniversary of the commencement of the Snowy Mountains Scheme. Due to the hard work of Wally and his committee, the reunion attracted at least 300 former Snowy Mountains Scheme workers and their families and many others who came to town to celebrate the scheme. It was a fantastic weekend and it was a wonderful opportunity for Snowy Mountains workers to get together with old mates and reminisce about the Snowy and the hard work they did, and also to remember the 121 people who died working on the Snowy Mountains Scheme. That was the official death toll, but many of the workers suspected it was somewhat higher.

There were amazing scenes as many of the workers caught up with people they had not seen for 20 years or so. Obviously time has aged them, but they were still enthusiastic about their memories. During the week they had the opportunity to participate in a number of events. Many of them went on tours of the region and looked at the old sites where their housing was. The member for Gosford was on one of those tours, accompanying members of the Rodwell family, who came back to the Snowy for the weekend. I know that they enjoyed the weekend, along with all the others who visited.

There was an amazing event in Adaminaby on Saturday 17 October, which included a re-enactment by the local schoolchildren of the opening ceremony. Adaminaby Public School students played the roles of the various officials and dignitaries who were at the opening ceremony. Hannah Kolve played the Hon. William McKell. Georgina Kingston played Nelson Lemmon, the Commonwealth Minister for Works. Angus Locker played one of my predecessors and the longest-serving member for Monaro—a Labor member. He did a great job. Amelia Wilson played Alan Fraser, another long-serving Federal Labor member. Gene Bennetts played Lieutenant-General Northcott, the Governor of New South Wales. Gene also did a terrific job. Andrew Wilson played Joe McGirr, the Premier of New South Wales. Billy Peckover played Ben Chifley. It was a fantastic event. All who attended responded enthusiastically and told me how much they enjoyed it. A great deal of credit is due to two parents—Linda Squire and Gillian Kolve—who did a huge amount of work. The master of ceremonies was another of my predecessors, Peter Cochran.

I also attended the major reunion event on Sunday at the Cooma showground. It commenced with an engineering award recognising the innovation of the Snowy scheme, particularly rock bolting. I discovered the interesting history of this technique only a few years ago when I walked up Lambie Gorge and saw the rock bolting experiments in the walls. Workers on the Snowy Mountains Scheme developed the technique and improved it significantly. It is used to secure loose rocks at the top of tunnels and is now used in cuttings and mines around the world. It was great to see that brilliant work recognised. I also visited the Snowy Mountains Engineering Corporation's hydrology laboratories in which much of the modelling work was done for the dams, tunnels and so on. The laboratories have a mock-up of the Dartmouth Dam in Victoria and the spillway. The staff replicated a one in 100,000-year flood, which was spectacular.

The event celebrated the 100,000 workers from 30 countries who worked on the scheme. It was wonderful to see so many of them back to Cooma to celebrate their achievements, to reminisce and to meet with old friends. The reports would suggest that they had a wonderful time looking around the scheme again and reliving some memories. A couple of important books were being circulated, including one by Frank Rodwell featuring all the Snowy scheme towns. Of course, many of them no longer exist because they were only ever meant to be temporary. The scheme has a fascinating history and it is no wonder that it captures the imagination of all who visit the area. I again congratulate Wally Mills and his terrific committee. They worked from scratch with assistance from the State Government, the Federal Government and sponsors.