New Thomas Foods abattoir to create 2000 jobs at Murray Bridge
Hundreds of millions of dollars will be invested in a new abattoir at Murray Bridge, employing thousands of people when it hits peak production.
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READ BELOW: A solid new foundation for our export growth
Thomas Foods International will invest hundreds of millions of dollars in a new abattoir at Murray Bridge that will employ thousands of people when it hits peak production.
The new abattoir will be located 10km from the town centre and 8km from the old abattoir, which was destroyed by fire in January, 2018 and is likely to replace that facility over the longer term.
The project will be supported by $7 million from the Federal Government and $17 million from the state government, which will go towards infrastructure, including roadworks.
The abattoir will employ about 400 people initially, but ramp up to 2000 jobs at its peak.
It previously employed about 1500 people before the devastating blaze.
The facility is set to begin production by November 2020.
Thomas Foods International CEO Darren Thomas said Thursday’s announcement — 518 days since the fire — reaffirmed the company’s comittment to rebuild following the fire.
“We are just over the moon.
“We will be rebuilding in Murray Bridge, this is an investment I think unprecedented in South Australia in the food industry.
“We plan to build the best, most-advanced multi-species processing facility in Australia, if not the world.
“We want our facility to be world class in adapting the latest advancements in technology, efficiency, environmental sustainability, animal welfare and workplace safety.
“This is the single-biggest investment by our company in its 30 year history and on a scale not seen in our industry for many years.
“It’s also our long-term commitment to our community, staff, customers and livestock suppliers throughout South Australia and Australia.
“As you know we have been in Murray Bridge for 20 years and it took one day to destroy that.
“We are not going to rebuild overnight, but we are hoping to have it running by the end of next year.”
The abattoir will be built in stages, with the beef processing facility to be finished first.
Mr Thomas said the focus would be on local jobs, but raised concerns about
“Finding labour in any food industry is incredibly difficult.
“Today we still have 1300 people employed in SA. So our absolute number one preference would be for our local people who will be trained.
“We have a proud history of being able to train people. Some of our senior staff today were school leavers from Murray Bridge High School.
“In the early days, we should be able to maintain our workforce from our local pool.
“It will be difficult, but we are looking forward to that (staffing) challenge.”
Mr Thomas said the business took pride in investing “in the hard times”.
“We are going through unprecedented times in the Australian agriculture sector with drought record livestock prices. This is the time when you need to invest.
“We look through the horizons and this is a 50-year investment which I hope I am around to see.”
The old site is still operational and integral in early days and some decisions on it will be made in the future.
Premier Steven Marshall welcomed the announcement and said the state and federal governments were helping to “unlock economic potential and create more jobs” by funding new road and utility infrastructure to the new Murray Bridge site.
Mr Marshall called the abattoir project “a massive boost for the regional economy, exports and jobs”.
“True to his word, Darren Thomas has announced today that Murray Bridge will be opening again bigger and better than ever.
“It’s great news for livestock producers right across our state, it’s great for exports, regional jobs and for our state.
He said the investment of $24 million from the governments was “necessary to get the project over the line”.
“We were concerned. There were rumours that the plant could be located to Victoria or other parts of the country.
“This is a massive investment for the company. We have seen nothing like this ever in South Australia”.
Rural City of Murray Bridge Mayor Brenton Lewis said it was a great day.
“No doubt they had plenty of options to explore about reinvestment. The community will welcome the news.
“We never gave up; the Thomas family has never let us down before and we didn’t think they would let us down and today’s proof of that.
“Looking at the track record and what they have achieved in the last 20 years in Murray Bridge, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that they are doing something like this.”
Infrastructure Minister Stefan Knoll said funding in regional infrastructure made SA’s regions more attractive places to invest.
Mr Thomas said the company set its sights on rebuilding from “day one” after the fire.
“The fire was a major disruption to the business and the lives of many of our people, not just in Murray Bridge but right across our operations.
“But we’re a positive and resilient family company.
“Rather than lament what was lost, we’ve chosen to focus on emerging bigger, better and stronger.”
The new site will process more than the 1200 cattle and 11,000 small stock.
Thomas Foods has previously indicated a rebuild would top the $300 million previously invested in the old plant before the fire.
The fire was caused accidentally when sparks from a welder working on an offal bin ignited material and which saw the blaze burn for more than a week with more than a 100 firefighters trying to bring it under control.
A solid new foundation for our export growth
By Michelle Ethridge
Thomas Foods’ new abattoir will help underwrite the state’s export growth, Business SA says.
The organisation’s chief executive, Martin Haese, yesterday said the development, to be complete before the end of next year, was “a great vote of confidence for SA”.
“Any measure to increase exports in SA of agricultural livestock, grains and all industries, is absolutely critical to the future of our economy and the future of our state,” Mr Haese said.
The news was a timely boost for the region, which suffered a huge blow when a fire ripped through its Murray Bridge abattoir in 2018.
In April, it was also hit by news that Big W planned to shut its Monarto distribution centre, which has 212 employees.
Meanwhile, the State Government expects the first two stages of a planning study on GlobeLink — a proposed new export freight park at Murray Bridge — to be complete in the coming months.
Mr Haese said while Business SA understood GlobeLink would be a long-term project, it was keen to see the study’s findings.
“Business SA would support any move to improve transport infrastructure because it is critical to us doing business in SA,” Mr Haese said.
Livestock SA president Joe Keynes said Murray Bridge’s new abattoir would bring massive benefits to the state’s meat supply chain.
“From producers right through to our export markets, the ramifications of this are huge,” Mr Keynes said.
“It’s a really exciting time for South Australian producers to rebuild out of this drought and increase our productive capacity using our sheep and cattle industry blueprints.”
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