Tony Abbott's 'green army' expected to be abolished in budget update

Tony Abbott’s signature “green army” has been earmarked for the axe in the upcoming midyear budget review, according to reports.

The move would save $350m, with $100m used to increase funding to Landcare as part of the government’s backpacker tax deal with the Greens.

The green army was an election promise of the former prime minister, introduced after the 2013 election, which aimed to create a force of young unemployed people to work on conservation projects.

But the Australian Financial Review reported on Monday that Abbott’s pet project would be abolished in the budget update on 19 December, after a decision by the Coalition’s budget razor gang, the expenditure review committee.

The environment minister, Josh Frydenberg, would not confirm if the program would be abolished.

“The green army has been a very successful program of the Coalition,” he told ABC Radio on Monday.

“We’ve had more than 1,000 projects right around the country, whether it’s planting 2m trees as a result of the green army or ridding 90,000 hectares of weeds, but these are issues that have to be looked at in the context of the overall budget situation.”

When asked if that was a yes or a no, Frydenberg said: “Well we’ll wait and see. I don’t want to pre-empt what will be released in [the midyear budget update] other than to say we have to find savings across the board.”

Malcolm Turnbull would not confirm or deny the report, nor would he say if funding for the green army would be better spent on Landcare.

“I am not going to foreshadow what may be in [the midyear budget update] which is only a few weeks away,” he said on Monday.

“I would simply say we have a strong commitment to environmental programs. Landcare is a very good program. It is very much admired and very effective. It is a very effective use of funds. It has enormous community support.”

The establishment of a green army was a Coalition commitment at both the 2010 and 2013 federal elections.

It was included in the Coalition government’s December 2013 midyear economic and fiscal outlook, with the government committing $300m over four years to the program (a reduction from the original $400m funding announced by the Coalition in the lead-up to the 2010 election).

The program was funded by a $484m cut to Landcare.

Abbott envisaged the program as creating an army of 15,000 people aged between 17 and 24, working on conservation projects for between 20 to 26 weeks.

Participants, comprising mostly unemployed workers, would receive an allowance of between $10.14 and $16.45 per hour and be provided with necessary work clothing and equipment.

But the program was plagued by problems, and the former environment minister, Greg Hunt, admitted in January this year the government had decided to cap green army places at 5,000 a year, a substantial reduction on 15,000.

He told Melbourne’s 3AW Radio that places in the program would “grow between now and the end of the year to 5,000 people a year”.

“Then it’ll be capped at that – it was going to go to 15,000 – I think it’s better to be absolutely upfront,” he said, conceding the decision was related to budgetary constraints.