tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24338064.post4763452503054570862..comments2024-02-11T19:28:27.997+11:00Comments on Personal Reflections: That Australian Life - Development dreams: boom and bust in Australian Agriculture 1Jim Belshawhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10075614280789984767noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24338064.post-78590577481131792272016-04-18T21:26:43.480+10:002016-04-18T21:26:43.480+10:00Sorry for slowness in responding, 2t. The benefit ...Sorry for slowness in responding, 2t. The benefit cost studies on the Ord were pretty right, I thin'. But having the scheme in place, that earlier investment is now a sunk cost, providing a base for new things. And you history teacher was wrong. Power for Canberra was never a real issue!<br />Jim Belshawhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10075614280789984767noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24338064.post-85881158436156826462016-04-15T10:15:54.813+10:002016-04-15T10:15:54.813+10:00Jim,
I'm only going on memory but wasn't ...Jim,<br /><br />I'm only going on memory but wasn't the Ord River a failure for everyone? A quick websearch only gave me opinion pieces. The Government never recovered its investment, but may not have intended to. However, most of the large scale farmers also went broke. Cotton, I know, had huge insect infestations (that looks like a cotton farmer in your illustration). They stayed a very minor player in a water intensive industry.<br /><br />Very beautiful from the air, though.<br /><br />I can't say how much selling off public owned natural monopolies (rail, poles and lines - but not the services which then use them) etc annoys me. Usually as it's just an accounting trick to make a government's budget look better.<br /><br />My history teacher told us that the Snowy Scheme was justified to provide the ACT (as seat of Government) with uninterrupted power. If the figures on my last ACT electricity bill were correct, not a bit came from the Snowy. Roll on affordable solar panels, I say. Even if we have to buy them from China.2 tannersnoreply@blogger.com