Malcolm Turnbull to end Tony Abbott's Green Army environmental program

Australia’s environmental sector is seeking answers from Turnbull Government for the changes it proposes in certain programs. The most discussed among them is its plan to access Green army. It was the most hyped among Tony Abbott’s employment schemes.

Green Army aimed to use Australia’s 15,000 and more strong manpower to protect the environment. Under the project, youngsters in the age range of 17 to 24 will be employed in conservation projects all over Australia. The scheme came into existence when Tony Abbott came to power in 2013, said in an ABC News report.

Mr. Turnbull refused to comment. He said that he would not say anything before the release of the Mid-Year Economic and Fiscal Outlook on Dec. 19. Environment minister Josh Frydenberg in the meantime said that the Government had to find savings. It had to repair the great black hole it inherited from the Labour department.

“The Green Army has been a successful program. More than 1,000 projects have been rolled out. It’s led to the planting of more than two million trees, the clearing of more than 90,000 hectares of weeds, but at the same time we’re facing significant budget pressures and obviously savings do need to be found,” the minister told Sky News Australia. He confirmed the reports of axing the program on Monday.

Mr. Tony Abbott too slammed the Government and expressed his dismay over the reports. He said that the scheme not only offered employment to the unemployed, it was also good for grass roots conservation. He also accused the Government of favouring Greens.

The May budget had allocated $360 million as funds over four years for the Green Army. However, the Government had promised an additional sum of $100 million to Landcare. The promise was made to get support from the Greens to bring changes in the tax rate backpackers pay.

The Greens hailed the decision.