Press Release

“The bureaucratic hurdles facing Jack Burton in his quest to provide much needed processing capacity in the State by re-opening the Gingin abattoir clearly shows that Federal and State Government Departments are committed to destroying our regional communities through red tape and excessive regulation,” Pastoralists and Graziers Association (PGA) President Rob Gillam said today.

“Instead of assisting Mr Burton and his backers in opening the abattoir which up to a year ago was fully operational and compliant, AQIS and DEC continue to hold up critical regional investment by refusing to transfer and reinstate licenses and approvals and demanding the new owners pay off the previous owners debts.”

“This is just unacceptable, especially when the beef and sheep meat industries are screaming for increased processing space and our regional communities are facing uncertain futures due to lack of jobs.”

“The Gingin abattoir was operating in full compliance with DEC and AQIS before it went into administration, yet as soon as new owners arrive the Government regulators step in and demand their pound of flesh.”

“One wonders how our State and Federal politicians can support the actions of these self serving bureaucrats who have created an insufferable jungle of red tape which is strangling any investment in our regional communities.”

“One thing is for certain, if our Government continues to be this hard on our domestic investors, we certainly won’t have to worry about foreigners buying up our farm land.”