The abattoir would join the Australian Agricultural Company’s Livingstone abattoir as another significant beef meat works in the NT.

Mr Earley said an abattoir in Katherine was better suited to NT cattle producers than the one in Livingstone, Darwin.

“The AACo abattoir should have been located in Katherine and it’s a commercial decision by them to do what they’ve done in their interest,” he said. “What I’m suggesting is in the interest of primary producers, not in the interest of one company.”

Mr Earley said the abattoir would be open to a joint venture or a co-operative arrangement with producers.

“There are other people that I’m talking to that are interested in investing in an abattoir in Katherine and it makes commercial sense to them,” he said. 

“There’s economic prosperity to be had for the whole township.”

However, the Northern Territory Cattleman’s Association has responded to proposals for an abattoir in Katherine with skepticism, saying it was not something needed at this time.

NTCA executive officer Tom Ryan said although an abattoir was not needed now, a thorough look at a business plan would determine viability of another meat works in the future.

“It would be good to see an abattoir in Katherine but whether it would work or not would be two different things,” he said.

“We wouldn’t want to move from one viable abattoir to two that aren’t viable.”

Another competitor for the proposed abattoir is the live export industry, which Mr Earley said was too inconsistent for Territory producers to rely on.

“I don’t believe that primary producers should be subject to the whim of the Federal government when they decide to ban, and that primary producers should have a choice,” he said.

Mr Earley said the proposed abattoir would also look at providing facilities to process other animals such as camels, donkeys and wallabies.