Australian Abattoirs

Authors Note – I may have confused information from 2 sites for abattoirs at Tennant Creek,  there was possibly another beef processing facility that I’m yet to find information on.

Other Names

• Tennant Creek North
• Horseworks

Current Operation

• Closed (1982)

Location             

• Tennant Creek is located 500km north of Alice Springs
• This facility is located on the eastern side of the Stuart Highway approximately 16km north of Tennant Creek township.

Owner                 

• commissioned – Edward Souery’s (NT) 1980

Operation          

• Operated seasonally – April to End of November – 80 & 81 seasons¹
• Capacity to process 70 head a day²
• Originally built as a horse processing plant.⁴
  • exported meat to Europe for human consumption⁴
• Slaughtered Beef when owned by Brunei Meats.⁴
  • Note this may be in relation to Tennant #2.
    • June 1997 Brunei Government purchased the Brunei Meat exports company which purchased shares in the Tennant abattoir⁶
    • Ensured Brunie customers would continue to have reasonably priced and genuine halal producers from a halal accredited abattoir⁶
• Fundamentally this abattoir was built in the wrong place.⁵
  • Water supply shortage was a recurring problem
  • Building it above the Tick line (Elliott) would have enabled better welfare of stock and increased throughput.⁵
    • All major export abattoirs in QLD are above tick line – dated 2007.⁵
    • Producers incurred extra expenses in clearing animals of ticks.⁵
    • Additional handling and strees associated with clearance plunge dipping of animals⁵
    • Increased risk of chemical exposure to meat.⁵
    • Horses can’t be treated with Amitraz – which is preferred treatment for cattle and buffalo⁵
    • Amitraz had a nil with-holding period⁵

History  

Unknown time

• First Australian domestic abattoir to be granted an export licence for beef.⁴
  • Note this may be in relation to Tennant #2, not the horseworks.
• Richard Vincent Hammond – employed as consultant to set up the boning room¹
  • ran his own boning out operation in Richmond – was deemed fraudulent by the Royal commission, substituted pet meat for beef. Hammond sold his product through Edward Souery subsidiary in Melbourne ¹

 1980 

• Souery’s operated
• Bribed DPI ‘gratuity’ payments. Most inspectors bribed with $100 per week – Main DPI Ronald Stow. Stow originally worked at Alice Springs as grade 2 inspector – bribed there too. Katherine know to do as well. Bribes in return for trimming bruising from carcases rather than stopping the chain for employee to do so. Practice of bribes started as early as 1963. 60 inspectors worked at Tennant ck, 200 through NT/SA knew of bribe system¹

1981 

• Cartons beef rejected by USA- ‘off condition’ and ‘unspecified contamination and pathological defects’. Adelaide inspectors thawed and inspected some cartons – contained pieces of bone, hide, blood clots – described as ‘floor sweepings’¹
• Boning room foremam paid 3c extra a carton, quality of workers was very poor, unskilled, labour turnover high and slow¹
• ‘snow shoot’ method of injecting carbon dioxide into the containers to freeze meat sometimes didn’t work or wasn’t checked enough to ensure meat remained frozen
• Abattoir ceased to kill beef, started to slaughter horses for export, Ran out by December¹
• NSW accepted no meat, QLD very hesitant, Victoria refused any from Tennant ck¹
• Meat sent  to Darwin – condemned

1983 

• Brian Francis Hale – pleaded not guilty – 8 charges of receiving secret commission³
• Ronald Keith Stow – convicted earlier in year – receiving secret commissions³

1984

Source NT Library. hdl 10070/9732

Tennant Creek abattoir – dated 1984.

1988/89

• Tennant was operating as a export abattoir for horses and cattle⁷
  • Note may be Tennant #2.
• Horse numbers slaughtered for 88/89 574 head.⁷
• Horse abattoir at Tennant closed.⁷

2005

Source J. Purdie. October 2005.
Looking at Tennant abattoir from Southern gate at Highway.
Packaging shed is to the far left, cool rooms – centre. Right side of the road is shed and generators.

Source J. Purdie October 2005
Looking at Tennant abattoir from Northern gate at Highway

Demountable is to far left, rooms joining main processing shed centre, kitchen. Packaging shed to the right with the coolrooms behind it covered by the main roof structure.

Source J.Purdie. October 2005
Tennant abbatoir – Looking from North East
Standing at unloading ramp for the trucks, looking at yards leading into facility. Demountable or rooms to the right.

Source J. Purdie October 2005

Tennant abattoir Looking from the South east.
Animals enter through yards from the right, knocking box at the right end of the shed and main processing area to the left.

2014

Source J Bloomfield. October 2014
Looking at facility from southern main road gate.

Racks and equipment had been stacked infront of the coolrooms.

Source J Bloomfield October 2014
Structure and frame of a shed and boilers and generators. Abandoned tractor in the centre.

Source J Bloomfield October 2014
Standing at building and looking east into yard and unloading ramp.

Source J Bloomfield October 2014

Inside slaughter room, looking at the knocking box where animals were stunned. They would have fallen out otherside to enter processing area.

Source J Bloomfield October 2014
Inside initial processing area, some equipment and railing still there.

Source J Bloomfield October 2014
Abandoned forklift tractor. Still sitting in the exact same place as 9 years previously

 Sources