By Sharon Webb

Corrections Minister Elise Archer has thrown responsibility for a bungled prison survey not received by many residents firmly back at Meander Valley Council.

Mayor Wayne Johnston has told media that even he did not receive a government survey asking his opinion on the proposed prison – and nor did many other residents.

I have been in the shearing shed today and three out of the four of us there did not receive the survey,’ he told the Examiner newspaper.

But Ms Archer said the council was responsible for supplying residents’ names and addresses for the survey mail out.

‘The survey was posted to over 8,500 households in the Meander Valley in mid-March. The information for the mail-out survey was provided by the Meander Valley Council,’ Ms Archer said.

‘In excess of 120 additional surveys have also been provided to eligible people upon request, either to replace original surveys that were reported as not received or to allow additional adults in a household to have their say.’

Anti-prison group Westbury Residents Against the Prison (WRAP) said the survey had been ‘truly lamentable in concept and execution’ and was a waste of taxpayers’ money.

As Ms Archer attempted to blame Covid-19 for the mess, WRAP president Linda Poulton said problems were apparent before the advent of COVID-19.

Council general manager John Jordan also waded into the turmoil.

He acknowledged in an email to WRAP the importance of the flawed survey results because they ‘may influence or form part of any development application should it be lodged by the Tasmanian Government’.  

He said the council had written to Minister Archer asking that steps should be taken ‘to confirm with the independent firm conducting the prison survey that the results are statistically valid and that steps have been taken to ensure full coverage of the municipality.’

But Mr Jordan would not release a copy of the letter, inviting WRAP to pay for a copy under the Right to Information Act.

Former mayor Greg Hall has also weighed in on the debate, saying the survey should be redone – only to incur the derision of WRAP, who accused him of speaking after the horse had bolted.

‘This complaint is, to say the least, belated,’ said WRAP president Linda Poulton.

‘It was reported as far back as 17 March that survey forms would only be mailed to 7,400 households in the Meander Valley.

‘As a former mayor Mr Hall must also have known that this figure represents less than half of people on the electoral roll in the municipality.

‘Yet he did not complain at that critical juncture.

‘Instead he waited until the survey was over and when the broad outcomes of the survey would be known by those in government, to complain.’

The prison survey, supposedly mailed out to all households in the municipality, is part of the State Government’s consultation process on a proposed prison at Westbury.

Conducted by Myriad Research for SGS Economics, the survey forms part of the government’s socioeconomic report on the prison proposal.

Ms Archer has blamed Covid-19 for the survey being mailed out late, which will also delay the socioeconomic report.

She did not give technical details on how Covid-19 had caused the delay.