Thread by @BelindaJones68

I've got a little story for y'all

It's a story about 'not what ya know, it's who ya know'

Last week Minister for NAIF @mattjcan & @mlandryMP announced NAIF (Nth Aust Infrastructure Fund) had approved a loan for Blair & Josie Angus from Signature Onfarm P/L
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A nice little $25 million loan to build a 'boutique' abattoir & 'on-farm village' on the Angus's property Sondella, Clermont, QLD.

Now, the Angus's aren't short of a quid

Angus Pastoral Co own 162,000ha & run abt 35,000 head of cattle, valued at about $71 million a few yrs ago

Josie Angus is David Camm's daughter, her grandfather was a Bjelke-Petersen Minister

The Camms are just as lucky as the Angus's

Cr Amanda Camm is Dep Mayor of Mackay Council
Bryce Camm is Chair of Beef Aust

Josie's nieces are lucky too, 2 of them just got a $30K Nuffield each

Cr Amanda Camm even wanted to be the LNP Senate candidate last May but was beaten out by Susan McDonald, who went on to win a Senate seat.

I digress, back to the Angus's

They like to rub shoulders with lots of LNP politicians

Back in Sept 2017 they hosted @mattjcan @mlandryMP @senbmckenzie Fiona Nash & a QLD MP to discuss plans for their abattoir

Lucky that, just happened to be soon after the NAIF was established

The Angus's don't like the QLD Labor Govt though

They're fighting the QLD Govt over #reefregs, that's legislation that is trying to help save the Great Barrier Reef

Seems the Angus's don't like being told what to do & don't believe in climate change.

The Angus's really support the Green Shirt Movement, led by Cr Martin Bella(Mackay Council), you may remember him, he used to play footy

Angus's & Green Shirts have hitched their wagon to climate change sceptic Peter Ridd, he was sacked by James Cook Uni

abc.net.au/news/2019-09-2…

Green Shirts liked @ScottMorrisonMP's shirt when he visited Dalby last week bcuz it was green too.

Josie Angus posted on Facebook about Jack Berne who started Five for a Farmer, even said "How good is Scott Morrison?"~she's a fan!

But who needs a fiver when you can get $25mill?

Josie even has a friend at @australian named Graham Lloyd, he's the 'environment editor'

He's an interesting character, also goes by the name Efrem Lloyd, he lives in Mexico even though he regularly writes for The Oz & was sued over a dodgy business deal

You may be familiar with Graham Lloyd, he likes to have a go at @GretaThunberg over what he terms as 'so-called' climate change.

So, the Angus's have hooked up with climate science deniers to support their case against the QLD Govt Great Barrier Reef regulations

The Angus's like to support the LNP & are perfectly happy to have a go at the QLD state govt yet are more than willing to accept the QLD govt's support when it comes to their yet-to-be-built abattoir in the form of a job related grant
abc.net.au/radio/programs…

So, the very wealthy, well-connected Angus's have just got $25 million from NAIF plus QLD state govt funding for their 'boutique' abattoir & 'on-farm village'

But they forgot to mention in the NAIF announcements that they have ALREADY received a $5.5 million Commonwealth grant

Despite lots of abattoirs in QLD that are all struggling bcuz of drought & even though the Angus's have never built or run an abattoir before Josie Angus insists the 'demand has never been greater' for their 'smallest export abattoir in Australia'

It's all about jobs & export $$

How many jobs you ask?

200 during construction (starts next mth)

70 once it's up & running from Jan 2021

That's why they need the 'on-farm village'

Now that doesn't sound to me like Clermont locals will be commuting the 60kms to Sondella

Sounds like a camp for TSS workers!

Many people commute 60kms or more to work every day.

People on the Gold Coast commute to Brisbane each day, about 70-100kms each way

Same with commuters from the Sunshine Coast to Brisbane

Same thing in Sydney or Melbourne

So, why the need for an 'on-farm village'?

For some reason @mattjcan & @mlandryMP are saying this is ALL about jobs but it's a well-known fact that many abattoirs rely on Temporary Skills Shortage visa workers bcuz apparently there's a shortage of skilled abattoir workers in QLD

It's abt the Angus's & $$$ not local jobs

Another thing is that the NAIF Act 2016 insists projects MUST an have Indigenous Engagement Strategy

The Angus's haven't said much about that.

There's a very tenuous link to Blackfella Beef, they may be involved but nothing concrete was discussed in ANY of the announcements

So, this appears to be a very wealthy family with very strong political connections, who've never run an abattoir, getting over $30 million in taxpayer funding to build a 'boutique' abattoir & 'on-farm village' on their private land when we don't really need any more abattoirs🤔

The Angus's are an awfully lucky family 'eh?

Not your average 'battling' farming family

Drought doesn't seem to impacting them either, they seem to have a very robust herd of cattle & lots of water, their business is going from strength to strength.

This whole thing sounds as dodgy as fuck to me!

NAIF usually moves at glacial speed & has a tough criteria to meet

But if your name is Angus, you've got plenty of coin & friends in high places then scoring over $30+ mill from Fed/State Govts is piss easy!
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