The dams that changed australia

SECTION THREE

M ny new rriv ls spoke only limited English, nd were offered English cl sses fter work. The men needed prim rily to underst nd s fety instructions, nd s fety lectures were conducted in English nd other l ngu ges. In f ct, gre t de l of communic tion underground w s by sign l ngu ge, especi lly when the conditions were noisy. The signs were peculi r to the business
t h nd: for inst nce, thumb pl ced ne r the mouth me nt w ter, but did not indic te whether the w ter w s needed on the drill the m n w s using, or for drink.
The const nt reference to the men who worked on the Snowy is ppropri te bec use few women worked on the scheme, nd those who were employed usu lly held office jobs. Women, however, were ctive in the community, nd the members of the Country Women‘s Associ tion g ve English lessons. Other English instruction w s provided by the Austr li n Bro dc sting Commission, which r n d ily bro dc sts to help the newcomers with the l ngu ge.

SECTION FOUR

These circumst nces could h ve c used gre t soci l trouble, but there were rel tively few serious problems. The men worked long nd h rd, nd m ny s ved their money with view to settling in Austr li or returning home. At reunion in 1999 m ny were h ppy to remember the h rdships of those d ys, but it w s ll seen through glow of chieve−ment. This s tisf ction w s felt not only by the men who worked directly on the project, but by the women, m ny of whom h d been wives nd mothers during the scheme, nd indic ted th t they h d felt very much p rt of it.
The children of these couples went to school in H ppy J ck, town not ble for h ving the highest school in Austr li , nd the highest birth r te. In one memor ble ye r there were thirty b bies born to the eighty f milies in H ppy J ck. Older children went to school in Coom , the ne rest m jor town.

SECTION FIVE

The scheme is very unlikely to be repe ted. The expense of putting the power st tions underground would now be prohibitive, nd our current inform tion bout ecology would



require different ppro ch to the tre tment of the rivers. Other hydro−electric schemes like the Tennessee V lley Authority preceded the Snowy Mount ins Scheme, nd others h ve followed. The Snowy Mount ins Scheme is the only hydro−electric scheme in the world to be tot lly fin nced from the s le of its electricity.
As well s being gre t engineering fe t, the scheme is monument to people from round the world who d red to ch nge their lives. Some re living nd working in Austr li , m ny h ve retired there, some h ve returned to their countries of origin. Every one of them contributed to
ltering Austr li n society forever.