Australia's best days are ahead of us.
We live in the best country in the world.
No asterisks, no footnotes. From road to rail...
We are in the age of infrastructure. The dawn of a new era.
The great Australian dream. To build a better future.
We're spending more than any government has ever spent.
Money splashed around. Splashed more cash.
The cash splash. It's big money in anyone's language.
This is a nation-building... Funds from the nation-building...
..nation-building... ..nation-building...
Nation-building.
Uh, not...not what I meant.
But surely it's what defines any decent organisation,
pursuing a set of standards that puts impact and global stewardship
ahead of any relentless pursuit of profits or power.
(APPLAUSE) Mmm. Yep. Yeah.
But, Bettina, I'm largely in agreement.
But from my perspective as head of a government organisation,
these sort of ESG compliance measures are somewhat less relevant.
Well, from my perspective, you're wrong.
Well... (APPLAUSE)
OK, but...
Sorry, can I...
Sorry. I just want to respond to that.
What do we want? No wind farm!
When do we want it? Now!
What do we want? No wind farm!
When do we want it? Now!
..I'll keep.
That one's for Nat.
Oh. Morning, Tony. Hiya, Courtney.
Do we know what's going on outside?
Protesters. Yeah, I can hear that.
Just arrived this morning. Is this about me last night?
I think it's about windmills. Oh. Do we know what they want?
Not sure, but they want it now.
Brian's onto it. You were ambushed.
TONY: I don't want to rake over it, Scotty.
SCOTT: I mean, of course the people are gonna side with her.
And turn on you. I don't think anyone TURNED on me.
You don't see the viewer comments on the screen.
It's also the way they edit, to make YOU look like the bad guy.
TONY: It's shot live. Is it?
(WHISTLES) I think you did really well, Tony.
Lots of applause. Yeah, but not for me.
But still, applause. Yep. That's the way it works.
Anything for me?
Thank you.
You got a moment? NAT: Sure.
Who's that mob out the front? Brian's onto it.
They're not here for Tony? We don't think so.
Alright. I just wanted to give you a heads-up.
Turns out we might be having another crack at the Snowy.
You mean like a sequel? What?
Are you talking about the movie? NAT: The Snowy River Hydro Scheme?
Yes. We're thinking of selling it. Oh, OK.
Any reasons? I can give you about 10 billion.
Sure. But there's a fly in the ointment.
Before we can even get started, we need to work out who owns the thing.
The government does. Not the power stations. The name.
The "Snowy River Hydro Scheme". What, like, the trademark?
JIM: Yeah. Everything.
Brand, IP, copyright. Legal tell us we need clear title.
We've tried selling the Snowy before, right?
JIM: Mmm. A bunch of times.
So they would have looked into ownership then.
Can I leave it with you? (PROTESTERS SHOUT)
Are you sure they're not here for him?
(PROTESTERS SHOUT)
I'm only getting every second word.
I think it's "What do we want?"
Someone who knows how to use a megaphone?
Can you read the sign down there?
"No wind farm."
Have we announced a new wind farm?
I could check our project delivery schedule.
Or we could just go and ask one of them.
OK.
Not a great night for YOU. Oh, I wasn't meant to do it.
The Minister pulled out at the last minute. Some sort of emergency.
Well, it turns out he got home early.
He must have left at half-time.
And he did see a bit.
What emergency has a half-time? Now, he's not blaming you.
But Bettina did get him thinking. Who?
The woman who got all the applause with the ESP thing.
Extrasensory perception?
What am I thinking of? ESG?
That's the one. And he wants to know, are we falling behind?
In what sense? Well, in general.
You know, with the environment and the...what's the S?
Social. Social and, um...
Governance.
Is it something we should be looking into?
No. I think he's keen.
I'm not. Besides, we're a little busy right now, Jim.
What are you doing? National Highway Duplication Program.
Uh... Our major project.
Urgent assessment for the Estimates Committee.
Oh! Yeah.
Yeah. I think it's a question of priorities.
Yep. I agree. Can I leave it with you?
Yep. We can't afford to fall behind.
No, we can't. Hey. And last night?
Mm-hm? Tough crowd.
Thanks.
(SPEAKS INDISTINCTLY)
How's it looking? Interesting.
This trademark thing could be a bit tricky.
NAT: Really?
There's a bunch of people using the phrase -
Snowy River Caravans, Snowy Mountain Spring Water,
the Snowy Classic bike ride.
That's a bit of a stretch. Well, then there's that poem.
What poem?
Banjo Paterson.
The Man from Snowy Hydro? Legal says it's a risk.
What about the exact words "Snowy Hydro"?
There's the Snowy Hydro Discovery Centre.
I think that's owned by the government.
Alright. What about "Snowy Hydro cost blowout"?
What? Sorry. That's a news story.
NAT: Maybe Jim's right.
We should go back through some of the old privatisation attempts.
"Snowy Hydro bungle".
Sorry. Another news story.
Onto it. Great.
TONY: Scotty?
SCOTT: Yep. I'm coming. OK.
BRIAN: Ah, Tony. What's with the vest?
(SIGHS) Wanted to give you a sitrep. A what?
We estimate the crowd at or around 10 persons.
Not really a crowd. Age range, 55 to 80.
So retirees.
I'm thinking bollards. What for?
In case they try ramming the entrance.
With what? A mobility scooter? Can't be too careful.
Is that pepper spray? Mm-hm.
Just in case the situation escalates.
Honestly, Brian, I don't want to fight with them.
Commence negotiations. It's not a siege.
I'm saying talk to them. Copy that.
(RADIO CRACKLES) Leaving sector one now.
SCOTT: Yes. TONY: OK.
SCOTT: Up. TONY: No, down low. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Is that for all of the systems, their parameters?
(RADIO CRACKLES) OK.
Yep.
Oh.
Well, that is great news.
Yeah. Not now, Rhonda. No.
Well, if we get the state submissions back end of next week
and they agree to the formula, with the odd caveat,
then I reckon we're back on track.
Sorry, mate. I'm just gonna have to call you back.
Sorry, team. Can I just grab a minute off you?
We'll need longer than that.
TONY: Grab yourselves a coffee. Make it lunch.
Go on. Oh. And...and...and a coffee?
TONY: Yeah. Yeah.
Well, what's our plan?
What plan? Oh.
I thought Jim spoke to you about this whole ECG debacle.
Electrocardiogram? Oh, you know what I'm talking about.
ESG? Thank you.
Honestly, Rhonda, what's the sudden urgency?
Oh. Allow me to show you.
Polling data? Oh. The message is clear.
Is this where it's coming from? It's coming from everywhere.
Voters 18 to 35. What's the E for?
Environment. Yep.
"Should the government take climate change and sustainability
"into account when formulating policy?"
87%. Yeah. Agreed.
And the S?
Social. Yep.
"Should diversity, inclusion and wider social issues
"be a factor in policy formation?"
93%.
No argument from me. And the...?
Governance. Same story. Honestly.
It's like you're hearing this for the first time.
No wonder we've fallen behind.
Rhonda, this is what I tried to explain last night.
And wasn't that a car crash?
ESG is not actually designed for government.
Hear that? (SILENCE)
What? No-one's applauding.
We've got our own set of guidelines.
We've got an entire regulatory framework.
And there goes our 18-to-35-year-olds.
We need to fix this.
We're falling behind.
(SIGHS)
So, last time the government attempted privatisation of the Snowy
was in 2006.
I've chased the audit committee's report.
And what does it say? "File no longer retrievable."
I guess it's nearly 20 years ago.
And our archive storage system got updated.
There must still be something on the database.
"Snowy privatisation".
No, our database only goes back five years.
That's when we moved to the cloud. I knew that was a mistake.
Not really. Much better search function.
For documents that are less than five years old.
Yeah. It's really good for them.
I'll keep looking.
(PROTESTERS SHOUT) KATIE: Tony?
Good news on the protesters. They're packing up?
No, but Courtney managed to fix their megaphone.
It was the batteries. TONY: I thought it was a bit clearer.
What's Brian doing down there? KATIE: Looking for Neo-Nazis.
What? He thought he saw a hate symbol.
TONY: Really?
I suspect it was just a badly drawn windmill.
Oh, yeah. I think you might be right.
Hey, Jim. Good news.
Just came from a ministerial briefing,
and the big fella likes what he's hearing.
Oh, wow. He's right behind it.
The whole NHDP? I think it was ES-something.
National Highway Duplication Program? Oh, damn!
I was supposed to mention that, wasn't I?
Jim, the Expenditure Review Committee meet next week.
I'll shoot him a text. Oh, for God's sakes!
It's swings and roundabouts! We got the go-ahead on ESG.
Jim, can I explain to you exactly what ESG is?
Oh, that'd be great, 'cause Rhonda was a bit vague.
Yep. Can I get this for the Minister?
He was a little hazy on it too.
Hey, Siri, dictate this.
ESG is basically an exercise to assess your level
of gender diversity, inclusivity, sustainability.
(WHISPERS) Oh, he's gonna love this. Yep.
It's a comprehensive, time-consuming audit
in order to rank your level of compliance.
(WHISPERS) Oh, this is great.
But even for corporations,
it's often a virtue-signalling public relations boondoggle.
For us, a complete waste of time. Siri, stop.
Worse, it's gonna distract us from our real work.
Just remind me. Highway Duplication.
Oh, yeah. I'm gonna send... Text.
Text. Yeah, yeah. You know what?
I'm just gonna play him the first part.
Sure.
Ta-da!
What's that?
I found my old laptop.
I'm pretty sure it should still have
the archive stuff we're searching for on the hard drive.
Great! I'm just looking for a charger.
Oh. Nah, that's USB-C.
You wouldn't happen to have a MagSafe?
I don't even know what that is. I still have one at home.
Oh, great. Go get it.
Oh, no! What?
My e-bike hasn't recharged.
Well, just use the pedals. Oh, yeah.
Be right back.
Are you leaving the premises? Yep.
I'll escort you out.
Safe passage.
(RADIO CRACKLES) Leaving sector three now.
OK.
I think Jim will back me up on this.
If we sign off on it our end then get it to Canberra end of the month...
And the supporting documentation?
Uh, yep. All lodged with the cabinet secretary's office for the ERC.
Then cabinet then budget. Yeah, Jim?
Uh, hang on, Tony. Did you get a text from Rhonda?
Uh, yeah. Yep. Got a few. We can come back to that.
Is Tony there? Uh, yes. Yes, he is.
RHONDA: What's your problem? What?
Monique is waiting for you right now.
Who's Monique, and why is she waiting for me?
The EPL, Tony.
We're falling behind, and she's here to help. Quick sticks!
No, no, no. We... we can come back to that any time.
We finish this now. Too important to postpone.
Hello?
I think Rhonda muted you, Tony.
God, she shits me.
RHONDA: I heard that.
Hurry up.
What the hell?
I'm OK. You only live a few blocks away.
It was a pretty steep hill.
One of the protesters helped him into the lift.
NAT: How'd you go, with the charger? Found it.
NAT: Great. And even better news.
NAT: Yeah?
I found a bunch of photos I thought I'd lost.
NAT: Oh! Please.
That is not safe for work. That's my new screensaver.
NAT: What about the Snowy?
Couldn't find any reference to the ownership
of the phrase "Snowy River Hydro Scheme" in the '06 proceeding,
but the footnotes refer to a previous attempt
at privatisation in 1993.
And? My laptop only goes back to 2004.
Hang on. Can't we just ring the person who chaired the 2006 report?
I did. He's got the file index on his BlackBerry.
NAT: And?
He's searching for a charger.
Can you close that, please?
Mmm.
It's worse than I thought. She hasn't said anything yet.
She said "Mmm."
Were you involved in the Sir Stanford Wessells statue thing as well?
I work across a range of problematic departments.
Problematic? Well!
I think it's pretty obvious what's happened here.
We've fallen behind.
There's a clear lack of ESG framework.
Yeah, but I'm not sure that... Look, Tony.
No-one is blaming you. I am.
Seriously, is anyone worrying about ESG?
I think it's an issue that impacts us all.
Especially 18-to-35-year-olds.
MONIQUE: I've done a lot of work within this space, helping
some of our more backward organisations
navigate the challenges.
Backward? I understand. You're defensive.
No, I'm busy.
So, what I'd like to start with is an ESG pulse check.
Look at everything through an ESG lens.
Perfect. Do you even know what that means?
I'm sure Monique does. It's an office audit.
To help us get a feel for where we're all at.
And where are we at? Falling behind?
Exactly. (SCOTT SIGHS)
Brian says we should have pretty much everything backed up on these.
Where is Brian?
Running background checks on the protesters.
Oh. Here we go.
Ah! This one's labelled "1990 to 1995".
You know what that means. It'll have spiders.
It'll have the files we're chasing.
We just need to find a cable so we can connect it
to one of our laptops.
Mmm. There's a bunch here.
This?
USB-C.
Unless there's an adaptor.
Mini-DVI?
Nah, that's female-to-female.
Can you please never use that phrase again?
Do you have a USB-C to a Lightning?
I've got this. Yes!
It's the right one? No, it's my old bike lock.
I'll keep looking.
WOMAN: You've heard of ESG, haven't you?
MAN: It's about getting that impact balance right.
MAN 2: Understanding how the real world now functions.
MAN 3: Environmental, social and corporate governance.
WOMAN: How do you actually implement that sort of thing?
(PROTESTERS SHOUT) (RADIO CRACKLES)
Level three secure. Seriously, Brian, I'm fine.
I don't even know who you're reporting to.
Copy that, Brian. Just don't want to take any chances.
There seems to be even more of them today.
Want me to move them on? No.
Baton charge?
No. They've got a legal right to protest.
I think we should just find out what they want.
And then disperse them. Just talk to them.
Morning, Tony. Courtney.
Quick question - when I talk to you about an office issue,
is that an example of having my concerns heard and addressed?
What? I'm just doing the ESG audit.
I'm up to S. Uh, sure. Yeah.
And can you think of a time
when we've taken unethical advantage of our customers?
We don't have customers. And/or stakeholders?
Running a little late.
I'll tick 'rarely'. OK.
Where'd you get this? Brian found it downstairs.
And you think it could have our files?
Let's find out. Hit the power button.
(COMPUTER ALERT PLAYS) It's working!
Excellent. Where'd you find a charger?
We used a Thunderbolt-to-Lightning.
Very, very frightening. What?
(COMPUTER ALERT PLAYS) Success!
Now we've got to stick this in somewhere.
Um...
Oh.
Super Mario.
Might have been Tony's.
OK.
(WHIRRING)
What's that noise? It's booting up.
What's that? Here we go.
(COMPUTER ALERT PLAYS) There we went.
I don't know what happened. Can you try ejecting it?
It's stuck.
PROTESTERS: No wind farm!
No wind farm! You know what? We can just email him.
Oh, and, Tony, how would you quantify
the ethical impact of our supply chains?
TONY: What? For the office audit.
Oh, you're doing it too. We don't want to fall behind.
We are now. COURTNEY: Tony?
Would it be OK if a few of the protesters used our bathroom?
TONY: What? The public toilets are closed.
Oh. Sure. Oh, and that's not how you spell 'turbine'.
COURTNEY: OK. I'll let them know.
And has the Minister confirmed this Friday's meeting?
Still waiting to hear.
Do we regularly donate a percentage of our profits
to the local community?
We don't make profits. So we're losing money?
No. We're a government organisation. We spend money.
On the local community? Uh, sort of.
I'll tick "not applicable". Yep.
OK. I think I've found how to do it.
The disc? There's this kid on YouTube.
He knows everything.
OK.
Press control, command, option
and shift...
Yep. ..and escape.
I don't have enough fingers. There you go.
Nothing's happening. Right this way, folks.
Keep your hands where I can see them.
Oh, your CD drive's stuck.
NAT: Uh, yeah.
Mind if I, uh...? Sure.
Can I grab that paperclip? Um...
Oh! Oh! (GASPS) Wow!
What?! You're welcome.
Sir. I'm gonna need you to leave that paperclip there.
Scotty. How's it going? Uh...uh, yeah, yeah.
Almost finished. Oh, excellent.
Don't forget, you've got to send copies to the Treasury
AND the Finance Department.
No, I've almost finished the office audit.
Out of 10, how would you rate our transparency
surrounding ethical investment?
Scotty... I'll go eight.
Any sign of those engineering summaries?
Uh, yeah. The courier said they'll be here tomorrow.
TONY: Have you looked? Through an ESG lens?
TONY: No, have you looked for them?
It's alright. I'll do it.
Tony, can I ask you about
employee/employer engagement metrics?
No. Oh.
See? This is how we fell behind.
So, shall we try this again?
What if it gets stuck? I've got Dev's paperclip.
Maybe a different CD? How many have you got?
Um...
..about 200.
Hey. You think these would be recyclable?
What? Just for the ESG audit.
I'm still doing environmental.
So you're telling me the files we're looking for
could be on any one of these discs?
Yep. This is gonna take forever.
Don't worry. We've got an index file.
Oh. Where? It'll be one of these.
TONY: Hey!
Freeze! Oh!
Ah! Jeez! Sorry, Tony.
Oh. I thought someone might have breached our perimeter.
Oh, right.
Hey, have any document parcels arrived for me or Scotty overnight?
Oh, God.
Oh, to be honest, I've been so busy,
what with the protesters and now this audit.
You too? Yeah.
Whole-of-organisation approach.
Some excellent questions. TONY: Yep.
"Should meetings be in person?
"Should you be printing out so much paper?"
I mean, it really makes you think. Hopefully about this Friday.
BRIAN: What's Friday?
Ministerial presentation for the NHDP.
You were gonna set up the AV gear.
Absolutely. (LAUGHS)
Oh, here's an interesting one.
"Could your department be more diverse?"
You're one person. Yes.
I'll tick 'maybe'.
This is insane. I'm sure it'll be one of these.
We've got notebooks from the 17th century we can still read.
You know what we need? Documents.
Microsoft documents? No, actual physical files.
There must be something in the archives.
Like on a server? On a shelf!
Something capable of gathering dust.
So, throw these away? Yeah. Throw them away.
COURTNEY: No, that's e-waste.
Environment.
You should be recycling. (SNAPS FINGERS)
Good thinking.
MAN: "Ooh! Our company has ESG!"
WOMAN: Is it a case of all hands on deck?
MAN: Companies must demonstrate their moral virtue.
WOMAN: Treat everyone with respect. MAN 2: We can do better.
WOMAN 2: All of those things are good for business.
(PROTESTERS SHOUT)
I reckon there's even more of them today.
Joan brought her sister. Oh.
And that's not how you spell 'moratorium'.
I'll let them know. Oh, and they made us scones.
Really? To thank Courtney for the batteries.
(LAUGHS) Hey, do we know exactly which of our wind farms it is?
(SIRENS CHIRP) I got distracted by the scones.
Is that police? Oh. Brian just radioed.
Apparently, someone was jostled. TONY: Jostled?
They don't seem violent. No, someone jostled THEM.
What? Do we know who?
How hard can it be getting into your own building?
Come on. We've got a meeting.
MONIQUE: Well, I think this has been a valuable exercise.
RHONDA: Couldn't agree more.
MONIQUE: Some very interesting staff feedback.
Environment ranks poorly. What's the issue? Plastic straws?
MONIQUE: If only it were that simple.
Hm. MONIQUE: Social.
Oh, where do I start? With an example.
I could give you dozens. Mm-hm.
Hayden mentioned a clear lack of meaningful workplace engagement.
Bookkeeper Hayden. He works from home.
There's a sense of exclusion. He chooses to work from home.
MONIQUE: Governance is a real concern.
There appears to be little or no protection for whistleblowers.
I didn't know we had any.
Perhaps they're too frightened to speak up.
About what? The plastic straws?
Monique, I'm in the final stages
of getting a massive construction project locked down,
hopefully funded.
Interesting. This could be perfect.
Perfect for what? Is this about Hayden?
MONIQUE: The next stage of our audit.
What if we were to run an ESG lens across this whole project?
See how compliant you are. TONY: No.
MONIQUE: I'm sensing some resistance.
Yeah, I said no.
Tony, no-one is pointing the finger at you.
I am. He's dragging his feet again.
I want you to see this as an opportunity.
I'm trying to get 1,000km of interstate highway divided.
And that is a noble goal.
But what's the first thing people are going to ask?
"How soon can you do another 1,000km?"
"What's your ESG compliance?"
Wood for the trees.
Um, what practically will this accreditation process...
..uh, how will it help us?
It'll stop us from falling behind.
Tony, it's a measure, a mirror,
a way of looking at yourself
and identifying where you're falling short.
So we get ESG-compliant on a project we may never complete?
It's part of the completion.
You follow that? I'm still thinking about Hayden.
Why is there a policeman? Why is that man pointing at Rhonda?
Hm?
Oh! I did it!
How did I do that?
OK. Bit of a breakthrough.
Yep? Take a look.
Oh! You said, "Change your screensaver."
Not to that! What's the breakthrough?
ASHAN: Well, turns out there was a book written
about the early days of the Snowy Hydro Scheme.
"Taming the Wild -
"a detailed history of proceedings leading to the establishment
"of the Snowy Mountain Hydro-Electric Authority."
Catchy title.
It's bound to tell us who first came up with the name.
Can you download a copy? ASHAN: Sure.
Ah! It's not digital.
Then we'll order one. Sure.
Ah! Out of stock.
Are you kidding? ASHAN: Hang on.
There's a copy in a public library. Let's borrow it.
ASHAN: Sure.
Ah! Not for loan.
Can you stop leaving gaps? ASHAN: Sorry.
Alright. Then let's go there in person.
Bit of a drive.
Where is it? Cooma.
I'm not sure if my e-bike is up to it.
TONY: Katie?
Why are the protesters in our kitchen?
Have they stormed the building? No.
Courtney let them in to use the kettle.
You want me to disperse them? No.
We need a hard line. Yep.
They brought us more scones.
Beauty! What happened to hard line?
And, Tony, I asked them which wind farm they're protesting about.
It's on the south coast. Yeah. South coast of what?
I'll go check. BRIAN: I'll escort you.
Did they bring any jam? Oh, yeah, homemade.
Hard line.
Alrighty. Let's get started.
Sorry? (WHISPERS) We're not here.
You are. Carry on.
Petra, how'd you go?
PETRA: We're looking pretty well covered
for the mid-level civil construction roles.
I'm just waiting on detailed projections of other skill areas.
So...concrete, surveying...
Can I just come in here? You have.
The people you're talking about, building this road...
Highway. ..where would they come from?
Oh. Stuart?
We've partnered with several large labour-hire agencies.
It's a mix of CFMEU and AW... MONIQUE: But socio-economically.
What?
Is there a risk that we could be exploiting them?
Hmm. It's a good question. This is where the framework helps.
Exploitative? Have you seen the workplace agreements?
MONIQUE: Tony. Tone.
TONY: We've got union officials ready to pull the plug
if the temperature hits 30 degrees, 8-day fortnights.
I've got kids with stop/go signs on quarter of a million dollars a year
plus bonuses.
Just clarifying. Please, continue.
Heavy haulage will be staggered...
Actually, there was another thing. This road of yours.
Highway. What will it be made of?
Oh. Kirsty?
KIRSTY: Deep-strength asphalt.
On a cement stabilised granular sub-base.
Interesting. It is, yeah.
Ever considered recycled materials? TONY: No.
Open mind, Tony. Rubber?
It wouldn't work. I've read about it working.
Yeah, on Danish bike paths. See what happened there?
Loud and clear. Unnecessary aggression.
Mmm.
This speaks to governance. G.
MONIQUE: Not letting other voices be heard.
No. I mean, why isn't Hayden here?
Hayden?! He works from home. He's not an engineer.
I wouldn't be putting labels on people.
Sorry, he doesn't identify as an engineer.
(SIGHS)
I wonder if we might have a word in private.
ASHAN: I think we're lost. What does the map say?
"No reception." NAT: No, the map!
This! ASHAN: Oh.
How do you use it?
(SIGHS)
Alright. I'm sorry.
Tony, we're not blaming you. I am.
But there's some definite red flags here.
Monique, I've spent years putting together
a federated infrastructure system.
I'm this close to getting it across the line.
And you're microdosing my office on ESG.
What have you got against inclusion? What?
What have you got against sustainability?
Are you a climate denier? You want sustainability?
On this one project, I've got
seven different environmental impact statements.
Inclusivity?
There's already 87 volumes of workplace regulations,
non-discrimination legislation, international labour treaties.
There's that tone again. Yeah.
There's that lack of perspective again.
I can't help but observe that you do have
a very male-centric power structure operating here.
Your point?
I wonder whether someone in a leadership role who was female,
or who identified as female,
might bring a softer touch.
I'm not sure that's gonna matter...
RHONDA: Of course they would!
All that aggression. It's toxic.
ASHAN: Shields.
Smith. Sneddon. Sweeney.
Here. Oh. Where?
Well, this is where it should be. You're kidding me.
Maybe someone borrowed it.
You said it's not for loan. Or stole it.
Who would steal a boring book
about the early days of the Snowy River Hydro Sc...
Shh!
NAT: Sorry.
So, what now?
(SIGHS)
(PROTESTERS SHOUT)
Tony? The Minister's just arrived.
Oh.
Oh, this one. That's it.
I am looking forward to today, Tony.
Well, hold your fire, Minister,
but there is definitely some good news.
So I've heard. Quite a bit of progress.
Well, I'll let you be the judge.
(LAUGHS)
Set to go? TONY: Yep.
Katie, the, uh, briefing documents. We're trying paperless.
The MSG lens. TONY: What?!
But Brian's got it all on the screen.
OK. Uh...alright.
Well, um, let me take you through an update of the NHDP,
where we are with the states, the territories and, of course...
BRAD: ESG compliance. What was that?
Apologies, Tony. I interrupted you.
Um...and, of course... The Expenditure Review Committee.
ESG? Where did that come from? I'm hearing whispers. It's all good.
I guess it's just not our main focus at this point.
Sure. Sure, sure. Just, it speaks to where we're trying to up our game.
TONY: Sure. Yeah.
Well, how about I whip through the NHDP, current state of play?
Brian?
BRIAN: Oh. Um...hang on.
TONY: Yep.
Wrong folder, I think.
Taming the Wild.
NAT: It doesn't appear to be on the shelf.
Let me take a look.
That's the sort of cable we were chasing.
Ah! Here we go.
It seems to have been archived.
Archived? Mmm.
We take them off the shelf to protect them from...
Readers? Damage.
Of course. Is there a chance we could take a quick look?
Archives are only open on Monday.
You may have to wait a couple of days.
Days?
What now? (INAUDIBLE)
Just looking up things to do in Cooma.
We are not staying in Coo...
Excuse me. Mmm.
Is there a chance you could send us an excerpt from the book?
Oh, could be copyright issues. NAT: Not the whole thing.
We're only interested in the first few chapters,
about the formation of the Hydro Scheme.
I'll see what I can do. Thank you.
There's a trout fishing museum.
OK. So we come all the way back to the org chart.
So, our assessment, tick.
States and territories agree to the allocation formula. Tick.
In principle, ministerial support.
Big tick. ERC, cabinet, etc.
Question - how far are we from announcing?
The whole Highway Duplication Program?
BRAD: Yeah. Well, it sort of depends.
And if it's ESG-compliant.
Well...we won't know that it's ESG-compliant.
She's right. We ARE falling behind. Sorry, who was right?
Tony, this is wonderful work, and well done.
TONY: But?
But are we better off, rather than the sugar hit
of announcing a national highway thing...
Not sure that it's a sugar hit.
..are we better off getting all of our ESG ducks in a row
then coming back?
Isn't that getting the cart before the horse?
No. I'm not even sure there's a horse.
What about the ducks?
Why are we using a horse and cart? Oh, we ARE falling behind.
(SCOTT SIGHS)
Um...
(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
NAT: Oh!
Parcel from the Cooma Public Library.
Yes! Our book.
And can you make sure to recycle that post bag?
Sure.
Ta-da!
What the hell? What is it?
DEV: Oh, it's microfiche. What?
It's how we used to store books and newspapers.
There's stuff written on it. You reckon it's what we're after?
I guess.
What do we plug it into?
Dev?
Oh, THAT south coast. That's the wind farm.
We're not building it. We're backing down?
No, no. That's a state government project.
So nothing to do with us? No.
So where's the state infrastructure office?
Uh...it's that building.
I'll let them know.
When do we want it? Now!
There.
"At the meeting's end,
"a formal declaration was made by the engineer-in-chief
"for the formation of the Snowy Mountain Hydro-Electricity Scheme."
"The chief engineer, working for the Australian government..."
So we own the phrase. MAN: Terribly sorry.
The museum closes in five minutes.
All good.
Right. How to get this out now?
(INAUDIBLE)
What do we want?
No wind farm!
When do we want it? Now!
What do we want? No wind farm!
When do we want it? Now!
Captions by Red Bee Media
Copyright Australian Broadcasting Corporation