Steve Wainewright appointed WA Meat Industry Authority’s acting CEO

WA’s biggest livestock saleyard, Muchea Livestock Centre, has appointed an acting chief executive after its previous boss quit seven months into the role. Steve Wainewright will take the reins as acting chief executive of the WA Meat Industry Authority, which runs the centre, on December 10. He replaces outgoing chief executive Tim Collins, who took on the role in April before resigning for personal reasons. “Mr Wainewright, who has been an intern for three weeks at the saleyards, has made a smooth transition,” WAMIA chairwoman Sally O’Brien said. “We will be going through a recruitment process to fill the role by late January, and Steve would be eligible to apply.” Mr Wainewright, who works for the Department of Training and Workforce Development, said he was open to the challenges of the new role. “It offers an exciting opportunity,” he said. “Muchea is in a peak busy time, with many pastoral cattle being sold through the yards.” Mr Wainewright will maintain his title as DTWD’s Spencer Brook farm manager — a position he has held since 2017 — but has agreed to a 12-week department secondment to WAMIA, allowing him time to consider taking on the role full-time. “There is great opportunity with WAMIA to work with industry, and Muchea is a fabulous facility, but at this point in time, I am not prepared to make a statement about my intentions,” he said. “In my role at the department’s farm, the key focus has been running a commercial farm that complements training and education.” Mr Wainewright graduated with an Animal Science degree from Melbourne University in 2005, before working for a feed company in technical development. He relocated to Queensland in 2008, where he completed a research Masters in Tropical Animal Science at James Cook University in 2010. He moved to WA with his wife that same year. From 2012-2017, Mr Wainewright was the manager at the University of WA’s Ridgefield farm in Pingelly.