It’s time for the Liberals to listen to the community and walk away from Westbury as a site for the proposed maximum security northern prison.
Labor Member for Lyons Jen Butler said contenders for the Liberal leadership must disclose their views on siting the prison at Westbury.
“The community has made it abundantly clear that they do not, and will not, support building the prison in their town.
“The government has treated this community with contempt from the outset of their so-called consultation process. They announced Westbury as a preferred site and dumped that on the community with no consultation.
“The community is now crowd funding to pay for professional support to fight the government.
“It’s time for the Liberals to cut their losses, apologise to the residents of Westbury, and walk away from that community as a site for the northern prison.”
Shadow Corrections Minister Ella Haddad said while Labor supports development of a northern prison, it’s not appropriate to force a decision on a community without consultation.
“Westbury is a small rural town, and residents are concerned the prison will dominate the town, destroy its heritage values, and take Westbury off the map for tourists.
“The government must concede they’re looking in the wrong place.
“They need to go back to the drawing board, release the shortlist of potential sites, and start over with a genuine consultation process with the Tasmanian community.”
Jen Butler
Labor Member for Lyons
Ella Haddad
Shadow Minister for Corrections
