John Gilruth, the Administrator of the Northern Territory following the takeover by the Commonwealth Government, believed large-scale private enterprise in the Territory would be based on the mining, agriculture and cattle industries. The large British conglomerate, Vestey Brothers, proposed to establish a meat processing plant in Darwin and work began in 1914.
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. Aggressive unionists, in their fight for workers' rights, scuppered these plans. They were not the sole reason though: transporting the cattle to the meatworks was a huge issue. At this period the railway only extended as far as Katherine. Any pastoralist outside of the reach of the railway would have to walk his stock to market with subsequent loss of condition. Stock routes did exist but water was often a problem. Even Vesteys, once their meatworks closed, would overland their cattle to Queensland or through the Kimberley in Western Australia.
Cattle was the one commodity that Northern Australia produced in large numbers. It was thought that a meatworks would succeed, but all the plans came to nothing.
