Sheepmeat Council of Australia - A Brief History of the Sheepmeat Council of Australia
Friday, 30 July 2010

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A Brief History of the Sheepmeat Council of Australia
A Brief History of the Sheepmeat Council of Australia

The Sheepmeat Council of Australia celebrated its 30th Anniversary in 2009, along with the National Farmers’ Federation (NFF).

The Sheepmeat Council was formed in 1979 as one of the seven autonomous commodity councils of NFF and was established to represent the national interests of lamb and sheepmeat producers, and more recently, suppliers of sheep for live export.

The inauguration of the Sheepmeat Council and separate councils for cattle and wool, along with the creation of NFF, represented the culmination of federal farm unity discussions which started in October 1977.

The Working Group on Federal Amalgamation was formed in October 1977 and comprised representatives of the Australian Wool and Meat Producers’ Federation, the Australian Woolgrowers and Graziers’ Council and the Australian National Cattlemen’s Council.

A series of reports issued by the working group in March 1978 led to the creation of a bigger group with representatives from every major State and Federal farm organisation, known as the Federal Amalgamation Committee.

During a challenging and historic year in the push for farm unity, the Committee met 14 times to reach agreement on the details of how the new federal organisations would be formed and resolve issues in relation to membership and representation.

Along with other Commodity Councils, the Sheepmeat Council met on 19 July 1979 to elect its representative to sit on the NFF Council.

The Sheepmeat Council’s first office in Canberra was in rented space at the National Press Club, along with NFF and a number of other Commodity Councils.

When construction of NFF House in Canberra was completed in 1985, the Sheepmeat Council joined NFF and other Commodity Councils in their new permanent home.

The Sheepmeat Council’s financial members are the State Farm Organisations which include the Victorian Farmers’ Federation (VFF), Tasmanian Farmers’ and Graziers’ Association (TFGA), South Australian Farmers’ Federation (SAFF), Western Australian Farmers’ Federation (WAFF), Pastoralists’ and Graziers’ Association of Western Australia (PGA of WA), AgForce Queensland and the New South Wales Farmers’ Association (NSWFA).
 
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