Minister Jaensch refused to answer serious questions about what, if any, assessment on the impact on eagles – or any other species – had been undertaken.
The exploratory drilling set to commence next week at the Westbury Reserve is within range of a Wedge-tailed eagle nest, during breeding season.
The northern prison is going to cost hundreds of millions of dollars but the decision for the site has been mired in secrecy.
Today in Parliament, the Government confirmed its decision to pursue the second site for the northern prison was made in a rush.
The Government has mishandled the decision-making process around the choice of the northern prison from the very beginning.
We cannot support a motion that has clause (4) in it, which is that the House supports the Westbury prison site that has been chosen on Birralee Road.
The Westbury residents are clear that the Government has caved in to their community's strong backlash on the preferred site for the northern prison.
The Westbury reserve did not even make it on to the Government's list of initial sites.
We would like to understand why the Government chose a 70-hectare reserve with high conservation values as the new new northern prison site.
The Liberals continue to grubby their northern prison planning process with secrecy and bad faith community consultation.