Vestey's before the Food Commisssion

Vestey's Meatworks began operation in 1917 on Bullocky Point, Darwin after protracted negotiations with the Commonwealth Government. As planned the meatworks had a capacity to process 55 head of cattle per day and a freezer capacity of 6,000 tons, the largest in Australia at that time. In the 1917 season nearly 19,000 head of cattle were processed and in the following year 29,000, but the great majority of these were cattle from Vestey's own properties.

Vestey's entry into the Northern Territory had been seen as the most promising development in the history of the region. However, due to the labour shortages as a result of World War I, workers took advantage of the situation and went on strike for higher wages. Consequently Vestey's could not make the meatworks profitable. Its temporary closure in 1917 put hundreds of workers out of work. It closed completely in 1920. It had been widely thought that Vestey Brothers, with its experience in similar ventures in the United Kingdom and Argentina and with access to substantial capital, would be able to develop the meatworks. Its closure engendered a great deal of bitterness in the Territory.

In this newspaper article from 1925, Sir Edmund Vestey is giving evidence before the Royal Commission on Food Prices. The closure of the meatworks had been an economic decision. It was unprofitable for an international company operating within the conditions then at play in the Territory. Vestey spoke of the large herds the company held in Argentina, South Africa and Australia, where most were in the Territory. He spoke of the high costs of labour involved which had forced the closure of the meatworks, and made the extraordinary statement that it was 'more profitable to let the cattle die on the stations than to put them through the Port Darwin works.' The article continues about the supply of meat in Britain with Vestey denying that his company was controlling meat prices: it was a case of supply and demand.

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