Kimberley Meat Company, Yeeda calls in administrators from KordaMentha following controversy-riddled run

Kimberley Meat Company, which runs northern WA’s only large-scale abattoir, has gone into administration, potentially cutting out an important local service for pastoralists. Australian Securities and Investments Commission documents show that KMC and its parent company, Yeeda Pastoral, have called in insolvency accountants KordaMentha to take charge of assets between Broome and Derby. The collapses come as the WA Department of Water and Environmental Regulation investigates KMC’s Colourstone Abattoir and Yeeda over footage shot late last year showing tonnes of abattoir waste dumped on Yeeda Station, less than 5km from the Great Northern Highway. The administration also follows an ABC investigation that found Yeeda, controlled by Hong Kong-based shareholder Asia Debt Management, owed more than $5 million to Australian businesses and individuals. Kimberley Pilbara Cattlemen’s Association CEO Bron Christensen said northern pastoralists would be losing out on an important market alternative. “It certainly lessens the options for the majority of producers up here,” she said. Ms Christensen said the KMC abattoir provided a cheaper option for pastoralists as well as a good solution for animal welfare as cattle did not have to be trucked over too great a distance. She also said KMC “set a benchmark” for the southern abattoirs. “The KMC was a good alternative and option for us, and unfortunately we don’t have it at the moment.” Kimberley region cattleman Jack Burton founded Yeeda more than 20 years ago after acquiring Yeeda Station in 1999. Mr Burton has since sold his family’s interest in Yeeda and KMC and stepped down as the chief executive and managing director in 2019. In 2023, Yeeda co-founder Mervyn Key stepped down as the company’s non-executive chair after disposing of his 45 per cent shareholding in the company. Without KMC, the closest abattoir currently for northern pastoralists is near Perth, a 2000km trek for many in WA’s north. Ms Christensen said pastoralists could be paying anywhere between $150 to $200 per head to get cattle transported to the more southern abattoirs. “That’s a fair chunk to take off of any money you’d be getting for the cattle. There’s also the high stress of (truck transport) for cattle too,” she said. Ms Christensen said the lack of a local large-scale abattoir meant more pastoralists would be making calls to muster early and get cattle off their properties, with conditions only exasperated by the “very dry wet season”. “In the west and in the Pilbara, we find people are starting to muster early . . . because there’s either water issues or just to get (the cattle) off their properties,” she said. “Although, people up here are exceptionally resilient and we’re not going to give up yet.” According to Ms Christensen, the best outcome for cattle producers would be if a viable business purchased the abattoir and resumed operations. “If (a business) purchased (KMC) and we had them up here, they were financially viable, they’re environmentally sound, and they also had a focus on animal welfare, then that would be absolutely our best call,” she said. KMC have been contacted for comment.