Abbott keeps budget shears out of official garden in Sydney

Tony Abbott, pictured with wife Margie, is forking out over $200,000 a year to maintain his garden. Photo / Getty Images

Tony Abbott is all for cuts, but not - it seems - when it comes to the gardening at his official Sydney residence.

The Australian Prime Minister, who has taken a scythe to the nation's "out of control" budget, is forking out A$200,000 ($213,000) a year to maintain the grounds at Kirribilli House.

Abbott's Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet, which recently approved the three-year engagement, believes it represents value for money and is in line with previous expenditure.

But the A$16,700 monthly bill is more than double what was paid for the same work when John Howard lived at the iconic harbourside mansion less than a decade ago.

Opposition politicians accused Abbott of hypocrisy. "The Prime Minister talks about lifters and leaners and he has presided over some of the cruellest budget cuts in memory," Labor MP Pat Conroy told Fairfax. "Yet when it comes to his own expenses he has no problem spending big."

The PM reluctantly made Kirribilli his primary residence last year after he and his family moved out of their suburban home on Sydney's north shore.

When Abbott is in Canberra - where the official Prime Minister's residence, The Lodge, is undergoing renovations - he stays in a modest apartment at a police college. Although bureaucrats spent A$65,000 renting alternative accommodation, the Prime Minister never spent a night there.

VIP Home Services will mow the lawns, keep shrubs tidy, clear gutters and help set up functions. The Government says the grounds have heritage value, and it is legally required to ensure those values are preserved.