AGRICULTURE and Food Minister Terry Redman has rejected comments by Shadow Agriculture Minister Mick Murray over the recent decision by the Northern Territory Government to build an abattoir 50 kilometres south of Darwin.
Mr Murray said last week that the Northern Territory Government's decision to build the Livingstone abattoir had robbed North West cattle farmers in WA the chance to choose between on-shore and off-shore meat processing.
Mr Murray said WA's meat processing industry had missed out on a big opportunity.
"This abattoir could have been a great facility for the North West but WA has been neglected," Mr Murray said.
"The Barnett Government has been beaten to the finish line by the Northern Territory Government who will welcome the industry investment and employment opportunities it brings.
"The Barnett Government's failure to submit an application means the North West has missed out on the chance to build an abattoir and create many jobs for Western Australians."
Mr Murray said the Livingstone abattoir would process 1000 cattle a day for boxed meat aimed at overseas markets.
He said following the ban on live cattle exports to Indonesia he called for a focus on developing abattoirs in the North West of WA so cattle could be slaughtered and processed on-shore.
"This would have given industry players more options so they were not totally reliant on live exports," he said.
"My call was ignored by the Barnett Government and now the Northern Territory will seize this important initiative and WA will miss out on job opportunities and export markets."
Mr Murray said Mr Redman welcomed the completion of the North West WA Beef Abattoir Pre-feasibility Study in October last year, but his inaction on moving the study forward had cost WA greatly.
But Mr Redman has been quick to shut Mr Murray down calling his comments "stupid" and saying his comments reflect Mr Murray's lack of understanding of agriculture.
"Mr Murray's comments are yet another demonstration that he doesn't have a clue about agriculture," Mr Redman said.
"The Australian Agricultural Company has been trying to get commercial support for an abattoir near Darwin since July last year.
"To suggest that WA was in some kind of race with the Northern Territory to secure this project is just stupid."
Mr Redman said the first phase of the study into the potential for an abattoir in northern WA was completed last year and concluded it would not be commercially viable at this stage.
"To make it viable, a feed-on or agistment sector would need to be developed to overcome seasonal supply issues," he said.
"Further work in this area is being done in phase two of the study."
