Donkey and camel meat the new plan for former kangaroo works in Charleville

Once he starts operating again, he expects the business to have an operating turnover of $70m and to employ 140 people.

John’s original business, begun in 2006 and closed in 2009, fell victim to Russia’s ban on kangaroo meat imports, where it was claimed that high levels of e. coli bacteria were found in shipments.

Research and meetings since then in Russia have convinced him that sentiment in the kangaroo meat market isn’t likely to change, and so he has been searching for a viable alternative.

“Without any evidence of another market for kangaroos presenting itself, I decided to step away from the game side of things,” he said.

“I started looking at smallgoods manufacture but the electricity costs were too high.

“You have to produce on a large scale to pay for a slaughterhouse, and with a shortage in beef supply, that’s why I was looking at other animals.”

With cattle from Charleville and Quilpie areas and west as far as Birdsville as a backstop, John enlisted Chinese equity partners and began exploring other avenues.

He said there was significant interest in donkey meat in China, where there was a shortfall in supply of three million head a year.

“They already have lots of donkeys in feedlots. They eat the meat, and extract the gelatin for traditional medicine,” John said. “They’re sourcing their donkeys from Africa and Asia at the moment.”

He expects to be able to source enough donkeys from Aboriginal lands in central Australia, and hopes that proving the viability of the industry will increase supply from all areas.

John said he had co-authored trade protocols on supplying kangaroo and donkey meat to China in 2008-9 and so was confident of his knowledge.

“The price was prohibitive then, but demand has increased and the price has driven up. I think we’ll make an industry of it.”

As well as the price at the end of the day for the meat, John says the incentive for local graziers to consider supplying donkeys is the value they have as both guard animals and for their ability to browse on more than grass.

“You can run a 200kg donkey and have equivalent grazing pressure as a 600kg cow, and a $1200 payment at the end,” he said.

Camel markets were plentiful in the Middle East and Canada, according to John, and he knew there were ready markets for beef around the world.

His factory only contains a boning room at present, thanks to the preliminary work done by kangaroo harvesters in the paddock, and so John’s recommissioning work means extending the factory and putting a slaughter floor in.

He is looking at processing 350 cattle or their equivalent a day, or 300 tonnes of meat a week.

By the time he has finished he says he will have invested $45 million.

“Providing we meet the market, people will be happy to support a western business, I reckon,” he said.

John’s plans to convert his kangaroo processing plant in Charleville to a smallgoods factory were brought to a halt by electricity prices.

He was quoted a price of 40 cents per kilowatt, amounting to $3500 a week.

“In Brisbane industrial precincts, where there are six suppliers, it’s 7.8c/kw,” he said.

“Refrigeration is a large consumer of electricity. I’m looking at a $1.2m electricity budget now for a slaughterhouse.

“When you talk about government trying to encourage industry in the bush, this is what you’re faced with.”

John said that distance wouldn’t be a disadvantage as far as freight was concerned, saying it was always cheaper to transport cartoned meat than livestock.