Spending on environment department programs, monitoring and staff has been slashed by nearly a third since the Coalition won the election in 2013, with deeper cuts promised into next decade.
While the federal budget has expanded by $36bn since Tony Abbott took office, funding for the environment has been cut by nearly half a billion dollars so far, an analysis by two conservation groups found.
While the government allocated $1.4bn to environmental funding in the 2013-14 budget, there was a 30.2% drop in the 2016/17 budget down to $980m. It fell again in the 2017/18 budget to $945m. By 2020-21, the final year of the forward estimates period in May’s budget papers, the Turnbull government plans to have reduced environment spending to less than 60% of 2013-14 figure. The estimated amount to be spent in the 2020-21 budget will be $825m …
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Guardian
