This article is more than 2 years old

This article is more than 2 years old

Labor has accused the federal government of overstating its spending on threatened species projects and the Greens have called for an urgent auditor general’s review of all threatened species expenditure by the Department of the Environment and Energy.

It comes after the Guardian revealed the government was claiming projects such as heritage building works at the Old Melbourne Gaol and the Polly Woodside – an old cargo ship in Melbourne’s CBD – had benefits for threatened animals and plants that are unlikely to occur at those sites.

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Documents produced by the department show that the government’s $255m in threatened species money is being used for generic environment programs and projects that appear to be unrelated to threatened species work.

Examples of some of the projects include conservation work and graffiti removal for second world war military remnants at Cape Pallarenda conservation park in Townsville, Queensland; weeding and construction of a bike washdown station for a mountain bike club in Tasmania; native garden projects in western Sydney schools; and construction of boardwalks in community parks and wetlands in various states.

“Some of the projects that the government has claimed are about threatened species clearly have nothing to do with threatened species,” Labor’s environment spokesman, Tony Burke, said.

“Real action on threatened species demands large-scale protection of habitat.

“That means conservation decisions like the protection of the Kimberley, which the Liberals opposed; protection of Tasmania’s forests, which the Liberals opposed; and protection of the oceans, including the coral sea, which the Liberals opposed.”

Real action on threatened species demands large-scale protection of habitat Tony Burke, Labor environment spokesman

Following the revelations, the Greens’ environment spokesman, Senator Andrew Bartlett, has written to the auditor general, Grant Heir, to ask for “a comprehensive review of all threatened species expenditure within the environment and energy department as a matter of urgency”.

“Since colonisation over 200 years ago, Australia has had the highest rate of mammalian extinction in the world. Recent reports, including the federal government’s State of the Environment Report, show that Australia is undergoing an extinction crisis,” the letter states.

“Some of this is due to issues such as the legislative regime and adequacy of funding levels, but there appear to be significant problems regarding how effectively current funds earmarked for threatened and endangered species is utilised.”

The government says it is spending $255m on more than 1,200 projects that benefit threatened species, but a table produced by the environment and energy department shows $156m of that figure is drawn from spending for other programs, namely 20 Million Trees and the now defunct Green Army.

The table shows $60m is targeted threatened species money, including $29.9m for the government’s threatened species recovery hub, $3.3m for Tasmanian devil conservation and $9.2m for various marine projects.

While environment groups said some good conservation work was being done through these programs, it was “scandalous” that many unrelated projects were being represented as having benefits for threatened species.

The Australian Conservation Foundation and The Wilderness Society are among wildlife organisations also calling for an independent audit of threatened species expenditure, in addition to an Australian National Audit Office inquiry into threatened species program design that is currently underway.

The Wilderness Society national campaigns director Lyndon Schneiders said he feared the government was using funds meant to protect imperilled species “as a way of shoring up votes in marginal seats.”

“It’s bad enough that large amounts of money that should be going to essential conservation programs are hived off to the minister’s pet projects. But it is also concerning that so little is committed to the protection of species,” he said.

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“The community actually has a high expectation that threatened species and endangered species are being protected and that’s what makes this so heartbreaking.”

Guardian Australia gave environment and energy minister Josh Frydenberg, the environment and energy department and the threatened species commissioner, Dr Sally Box, specific questions more than a week before publishing the initial story on funding for threatened species projects. No answers were supplied.

In a statement, Frydenberg said: “The [threatened species] commissioner role was created to help address the number of native plants and animals facing the threat of extinction, to bring new national focus on threatened species issues and to mobilise support for conservation efforts for Australia’s endangered native flora and fauna.

“The [threatened species] strategy sets out our approach of science, action and partnership and establishes ambitious targets to recover threatened species. These targets include: tackling feral cats, improving the futures of 20 bird, 20 mammal and 30 plant species and improving recovery practices.”

Further comment has been sought from the minister.