The Australian federal and New South Wales governments will not be selling their shares in Snowy Hydro Limited (the owner and operator of the Snowy Mountains Hydro-Electric Scheme). Snowy Hydro Limited's major shareholder is the NSW government with a 58 percent shareholding. The Victorian government owns 29 percent and the federal government has a 13 percent stake. NSW Premier Morris Iemma announced in December 2005 that he wished to sell the state's share in Snowy Hydro that caused the federal and Victorian governments to follow. The proposed sale has attracted immense criticism by those who believed that the sale would affect the environment and water supplies along the Snowy River, this was reinforced yesterday when 58 eminent Australians presented a petition to the government opposing the sale.
New South Wales government owns the majority of Snowy Hydro Limited shares.