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Conservationists put
plan for employment
SYDNEY: A plan for a conserva
tion-employment scheme has been
put to the Prime Minister, Mr
Fraser, by three national conserva
tion organisations.
A joint statement was issued yester
day by the chairman .of the Australian
Council of National If rusts, Mr V. H.
Parkinson, the president of the Aus
tralian Conservation Foundation, Mr
M. Wilcox, and the president of the
Australian National Parks Council, Dr
R. Story.
They said their organisations were
concerncd at the growing backlog of
urgent works for the ccmservation of the
environment of Australia while so many
Australians were unemployed and so
few were being trained in conservation
skills.
The plan calls on the Government to
finance a series of projects to be carried
out by State and local governments, the
national trusts and other voluntary or
ganisations.
'The amount involved is SI00 million,
which is estimated to provide 4,000 jobs
over two years.
Work put forward as urgently re
quired included the employment of ad
ditional park workers to enable parks
services to step up the level of man
agement in national parks and nature
reserves and the formation of special
teams for-the eradication of weeds and
feral animals from bushland.
The statement said the projects
would provide job opportunities when
increasing unemployment was resulting
in growing disenchantment among
young Australians.
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