Island abattoir in action

A NEW multi-species abattoir, with a community investment of $600,000, is now processing meat on King Island.

The new communityowned King Island Multi Species Abattoir in Grassy Rd, which trades as King Island Prime Meats, will initially process wallabies, bobby calves and cattle that cannot be shipped live.

The abattoir was officially opened at the weekend by Premier Will Hodgman and Primary Industries and Water Minister Jeremy Rockliff.

Five years ago, international abattoir giant JBS threw the island into turmoil by closing its Currie facility, leaving 80 people out of work and substantially increasing the island’s freight demand.

Plant manager Anthony Gibbons said the new abattoir, which employs 14 locals, has broad community support and provides a much-needed service to farmers and residents.

“It’s really exciting to have the plant up and running after so much work to get to opening. We started processing about six weeks ago,” Mr Gibbons said.

“By the start of March we will start processing unshippable cattle, that means cattle that are at risk of going on to a ship and this includes bulls which can be friends in a paddock but not on a ship.”

The plant will process the 100 or so bobby calves a year from the local dairy industry and the aim is to process wallabies for high-end markets.

This Government provided $50,000 and other support.