Karen McNamara (Dobell, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for the Environment. Will the minister update the House on the progress of the Green Army? How has delivering this initiative provided young Australians with practical skills and training whilst improving the environment?

Greg Hunt (Flinders, Liberal Party, Minister for the Environment) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Only a month ago I was on the shores of Tuggerah Lakes with the member for Dobell, and we visited The Entrance where a Green Army team of young people was in the field. They were clearing away lantana.

Mr Fitzgibbon interjecting—

Mrs Bronwyn Bishop (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The member for Hunter! He may have to get his own canoe soon.

Greg Hunt (Flinders, Liberal Party, Minister for the Environment) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

They were clearing away blackberry. They were rehabilitating the area, planting native species and restoring the foreshore. There was a great sense of purpose and satisfaction in what they were doing. We also travelled a little way up the road to where there was a foreshore which, a year ago, was covered in wrack and was putrid. As part of the coalition's Tuggerah Lakes recovery program, it is now free of weed, is open for the public to attend this summer and is going to make a real difference to the environment as well as a real difference to the local economy.

This is part of a broader program that we have seen over the last year. We have gotten rid of the carbon tax, we have passed the emissions reduction fund into being, we have put in place one-stop shops across the country, and we have cleared $1 trillion of backlogged Labor projects which they would not say no to and they would not say yes to. But, perhaps, right at the heart of what I do, I take most joy in what the Green Army is doing. They are young people in the environment having a tremendous sense of satisfaction.

Already the army is well ahead of schedule. We have 62 teams in the field around the country. We have young people who are taking great pride in it. We have Jade from the Barossa Valley who says, according to ABC News:

I've always wanted a career in conservation or animals, anywhere, zoos or something like that … So this has been a great experience and it's going to give me a lot of life lessons for later on.

More than that, though, these projects are around the country. They are in coalition seats. They are also in Labor seats. They are in Maribyrnong. They are in Throsby. They are in Hunter. Unlike the Labor Party, we can see that the whole of the country should benefit. As opposed to what they do, the whole of the country benefits.

On that front about fairness in grant allocation, I just happened to be reading page 124 of the ANAO report into RDA funds rounds 3 and 4 today.

Mr Tony Burke (Watson, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Finance) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise on a point of order regarding relevance. There is an understanding which is consistent with what you said at the beginning today, and I would ask for direct relevance to be strictly applied.

Mrs Bronwyn Bishop (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The minister has the call. I did pass some observations at the beginning of question time.

Greg Hunt (Flinders, Liberal Party, Minister for the Environment) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Thank you very much, Madam Speaker. I have been reading it and I am happy to read more of it tomorrow. But the point is that we have—

An opposition member interjecting—

You are kidding! We have been fair and make sure that right around the country young people from whatever electorate have the opportunity to be part of these programs. Whether it is Lalor, whether it is Newcastle, whether it is Throsby, there are young people helping the environment in a way which is good for them and good for the country, and that is how it should be.