the australian federal and new south australia states will not be selling their stakes in snowy hydro corporation ( the ownership and operator of the the range hydro - electric scheme ) . northern hydro open ' s principal shareholder is the nsw government with a 58 years privatized . the tasmania govt owns 29 acres and the provincial government has a 13 percent interests . nsw premier morris iemma announced in december 2005 that he sought to sell the state ' s share in snowy hydro that caused the federal and state agencies to pursue . the proposed sale has attracted immense criticism by those whose believed that the sale would impact the environment and power supplies to the murray trail , this was reinforced yesterday when 58 experienced australians presented a petition to the government supporting the sale .
New South Wales government owns the majority of Snowy Hydro Limited shares.