By the time we've got them trained properly, Rudd's proposed increased military strength will be established and we should be ready to send them off to be used as canon fodder for World War III.
YOUNG unemployed people will be offered an extra $2000 in benefits inreturn for undergoing special training programs.
The Rudd government is also considering army-style "boot camp'' training as part of its Budget initiatives to prevent the young and unemployed becoming the biggest victims of the recession.
Cabinet sources yesterday confirmed to The Sunday Telegraph that the boot-camp plan had been promoted at ``the highest levels'' of the Government, but it remained unclear whether the proposal would make the final cut for inclusion in the May 12 Budget.
Only 10 days out from Budget night - and with many of its elements still in flux _ key figures in the Defence Department are fiercely resisting the idea of having responsibility for military-style training for the unemployed.
They argue it is not their core business and, if it goes ahead, the department will need extra funding for any such program.
Defence sources said that in its current form, weapons training was included _ a concept they described as unworkable.
They said the idea was being pushed amid growing concerns within the Government that youth unemployment was likely to hit politically unacceptable levels by the end of this year.
During the "recession we had to have'' in the early 1990s, youth unemployment topped out at more than 24 per cent in 1993 - sparking an emotional community debate about raising a "lost'' generation.
Although ministers broadly support the initiative, elements of the Defence Department who have been at policy war with the Government on other fronts regard the plan as a cynical exercise to artificially cut the official numbers of young jobless.
It is understood that under the proposal, jobless youth would be offered training positions with Defence for a minimum of one month and a maximum of three months, effectively cutting the headline rate of youth unemployment for that period.
The department has been formally asked to cost the program.
The leaking of the proposal from within Defence is seen as further evidence of the near-breakdown in relations between the Government and the department.
Recent allegations that the department had been spying on its own minister, Joel Fitzgibbon, sparked harsh private criticism by Prime Minister Kevin Rudd.
Mr Rudd admitted publicly to tensions between the department and Mr Fitzgibbon, who is trying to push through cost-cutting measures as a part of a wider reform agenda.
But senior Government sources said that with Defence suffering from low recruitment levels, it made sense to require young job-seekers on welfare to get their training inside the military. The sources said it could be an incentive for them to subsequently join up on a full-time basis.
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