Prison group threatens to take on Government at election
Westbury Residents Against the Prison will make a bid to oust Liberal ministers at the next election - and they have a plan on how to do it.
The Launceston News
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WESTBURY residents against the Government’s preferred site for a northern prison will take the issue to the next state election if the project proceeds.
Premier Peter Gutwein and Corrections Minister Elise Archer met with residents, organisations and community groups for and against the prison in Westbury yesterday.
Mr Gutwein said the majority of residents he spoke to at their homes, in shops and on the streets were “quite positive”.
“We understand that some in the community are concerned about the site … and we will continue to work through that process with the community and the process the Attorney-General has put in place,” he said.
Lawyer and president of the grassroots organisation Westbury residents against the prison, Linda Poulton, said Mr Gutwein gave the group a “very fair hearing” at their meeting at 1pm.
“We certainly got a lot of the points across,” she said.
“We needed to let him know that this will go to court if it goes ahead and we think that’s an election issue for the Liberal Party.
“We’re not going to let this thing get built here.”
Ms Poulton said the group would endorse or run an independent candidate in Lyons to oust Liberals such as Police minister and former Meander Valley Mayor, Mark Shelton, if the prison process was proceeded with in Westbury.
“We think there’s a real vulnerability in Lyons. We think that vulnerability is even greater now that Will Hodgman has gone.”
The group would also take council to court over its “completely inappropriate” decision-making process.
“The council is a real weakness in this decision making process.
“We plan to look into how it came to be that no motion was every placed on the table at council level to let the public know and let the public engage in a discussion around whether a prison of this type should be in this municipality first of all, let alone the location.”
The group has so far raised almost $4000 of its $15,000 target with a GoFundMe campaign to fund a legal battle and Ms Poulton said other funds had been raised and donors roused behind the scenes.
RELATED: PRISON PLAN FOR WESTBURY LEAVES COMMUNITY DIVIDED
Labor Lyons MP Jen Butler said the Premier and Ms Archer’s visit to Westbury had “done nothing to reduce distress in that community”.
“It’s time for Peter Gutwein to instruct Elise Archer to cut her losses, release the shortlist of potential sites, and start over with a genuine consultation process with the Tasmanian community,” she said.
Residents Emma and Martin Hamilton said they moved to Westbury two years ago to start an ice-creamery and attract tourists to the town.
“The majority of our town do not want this prison here,” Mrs Hamilton said.
“The industrial site is not an appropriate place to put a prison and we would like [Mr Gutwein] to hear that and reopen the EOI process and look for a more appropriate site,” Mrs Hamilton said.
Mr Hamilton said he had lived in a prison town before and would move his family away if a prison was built.
“The industry will dry up and this will become a ghost town,” he said.
The Government has commissioned an independent socio-economic impact study and phone survey it says will “inform the debate”.
The study is being conducted by SGS Economics.
patrick.gee@news.com.au
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