By Charlene Macaulay
The Wyndham community is celebrating today after the state government backflipped on its plans to build a youth detention centre in Werribee South.
Following a groundswell of community opposition, including a rally that attracted more than 8000 protesters in the heart of Werribee, Werribee MP Tim Pallas and youth affairs minister Jenny Mikakos today announced a new site for the $288 million jail.
It will now be built on a 67-hectare site owned by Melbourne Water along Wests Road in Werribee, next to the Werribee tip.
Community fury has been directed at Mr Pallas since the February 6 announcement of the Hoppers Lane site, with many angered that the local MP had not consulted with his constituents or Wyndham council.
The opposition was so strong that a Star Weekly poll of 1252 voters showed that 68 per cent would vote for the Liberal Party at the next election.
Is this backflip enough to save Tim Pallas’ safe Labor seat? Take our poll below.
surveys
Western metropolitan MP Bernie Finn said he was confident the Liberal Party could claim the seat in the 2018 election.
“I think the majority of people after this think that the government can’t be trusted,” Mr Finn said.
“If the government had actually consulted with the community to begin with, we could have avoided this whole debacle.”
