08/06/2006 Hidden Green Slush Fund
The budget papers for 2006-7 reveal a Green slush fund of between $18m and $24m to be spent on "community conservation grants and education"!
$13m+ of this comes from the Environmental Trust and $5m+ directly from the DEC with another $6.5m from the Environmental Trust unaccounted for.
What will this money spent on and what are the expected outcomes?
Many of these "community" grants do not end up funding real conservation projects but rather fund the the political campaigns of extremist conservation groups to redirect votes back to the Government.
These figures do not include the almost unlimited resources given to the "conservation" groups/personnel for the Legal Aid and Environmental Defenders Offices (both under Minister Debus' control!). These Offices are used to fund advice, court actions and other legal procedures for "conservation" groups and personnel.
Is it time to ask about real environmental outcomes and some basic accounting for taxpayers money squandered on so called "conservation" yet?
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