Don’t get the answer you want? Ask someone else.
- Government cynically widening survey areas on northern prison
- Westbury community has already spoken clearly on the prison site
- Time for Elise Archer to cut her losses
Peter Gutwein and Elise Archer are using a new survey to engineer support for a northern maximum security prison at Westbury.
Labor Member for Lyons Jen Butler said the government has confirmed it will widen the geographical spread of community surveys.
“Elise Archer has confirmed next month’s survey will take in communities as far away from Westbury as Mole Creek, and even suburbs on the outskirts of Launceston, reaching all residents in the Meander Valley municipality.
“It’s either a cynical move to get a ‘yes’ vote to site a prison in Westbury, or a soft entry to testing how other communities would view a prison in their back yard.
“The Liberals got a resounding ‘no’ when they sought approval to build the prison in Westbury. Now Elise Archer is throwing good money after bad in undertaking a dodgy survey to get the answer she wants.”
Shadow Attorney General Ella Haddad said Labor supports a northern prison, but not in communities where the project would cause as much distress as it’s caused in Westbury.
“The Westbury community has made it abundantly clear that they do not, and will not, support building the prison in their town. And Labor is listening.
“The community consultation process has been deeply flawed from the start. Government has caused too much harm to recover the trust of the Westbury community. This latest survey will only further alienate the people of Westbury.
“It’s time for Peter Gutwein and Elise Archer to demonstrate the compassion the new Premier promised, cut their losses, apologise to the residents of Westbury, and rule out that community as a site for the northern prison.”
Jen Butler
Labor Member for Lyons
Ella Haddad
Shadow Minister for Corrections
