y Marina Cameron
A centerpiece of the federal government's youth unemployment strategy announced in the federal budget is a new labour market program called Green Corps, in which young people carry out environmental conservation and restoration programs for a training wage. The Australian Conservation Foundation has "welcome[d] the commitment to Green Corps", a scheme which it suggested in its budget submission.
However, the new program appears completely inadequate to tackle either youth unemployment or environmental devastation.
The Green Corps is a work-for-the-dole program to replace the Landcare and Environmental Action Program (LEAP) instituted under Labor. It runs for 26 weeks, during which young people receive the bottom tier training wage of $190 per week for 17 year olds and $270 per week for 18-20 year olds. Green Corps would operate only in rural and remote areas.
The program will take on only 3500 people over three years and the budget for the program represents a $26 million cut on the money provided for LEAP. Green Corps is the only new youth unemployment initiative in the budget, while other programs to support young people starting jobs, and to provide information and education on industrial relations, were cut.
In a cynical recognition of the failure of their policies in addressing youth unemployment, the Liberals provided two other small new budget items: for youth financial management assistance and youth suicide.
Green Corps is scant proof of a commitment to the environment. Funding for numerous environment initiatives was cut in the budget, along with millions of dollars to the Environmental Protection Agency. The diesel fuel rebate, which will predominantly benefit business, in itself was worth four times the entire environment budget.
The program is supposedly seen by the peak environment groups as a step towards the creation of "green jobs". There is no shortage of work to be done in environmental repair and conservation. The creation of real jobs in these areas would be a step forward. However, "green jobs" for young people that are under-paid, under-funded and with no real promise of permanent employment, are not part of the solution.