Beef cattle arrived by train to the Oakey Abattoir for the first time in 21 years on Wednesday, kickstarting a multi-million dollar chain of events that will boost Queensland's beef export earnings.
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The first event was a new $60 million beef processing expansion at the Oakey Abattoir, announced at lunchtime.
The second is an extra 500 jobs for Oakey, while the third is a future expansion of major beef exports from Queensland.
Queensland exported $4.7 billion of beef to 73 countries in the 2015-16 year, which was more than 55 per cent of all Australia's beef exports. Meat processing was Queensland 's largest manufacturing industry.
Talks are already under way to expand chilled beef markets in China and Hong Kong, home to 100,000 Australian expats.
That is why hundreds of people turned out at the Oakey Abattoir on Wednesday to see the 880 Channel Country cattle arrive by train, courtesy of the short 1.3-kilometre extension from the Cecil Plains rail line, paid for by the Queensland government "as an investment in the bush".
That included most of the 730 employees at the plant, who stood in their white processing floor uniforms waiting for the train.
One cattle train is equivalent to 44 loads of cattle by B-Double trucks and they arrive less stressed by rail than by truck; an important factor in beef quality.
One interested observer was John Wagner, part of the Wagner family who have developed Toowoomba's flourishing new private airport.
Beef from the Oakey Abattoir to international markets has already left the Wagner's nearby Toowoomba airport for markets in Japan and Asia.
On Wednesday, before the sun had hit midday, 880 head of beef cattle from Quilpie arrived by train.
That short rail line means a regular supply of cattle from western Queensland and up to the Channel Country along the Cecil Plains rail line from Oakey west to Roma, Mitchell, Morven, Charleville and onwards to Quilpie.
It guarantees cattle to the abattoir, owned for 30 years by Japan's Nippon Ham Foods.
Nippon Ham Foods chief executive Takeo Kudu smiled and fulfilled his side of the bargain he made with Oakey Abattoirs general manager Pat Gleeson to expand the plant if Mr Gleeson could develop a strategy to get regular supply of cattle to the abattoir.
The rail line – an 11-year struggle – was one side of the bargain.
Mr Kudo then announced the other side – the first $30 million stage of an eventual $60 million expansion at Oakey.
"That first stage will be to build up the cold storage and the carcass chillers and will include some robotic systems," Mr Kudo told Fairfax Media.
Mr Kudo said the new rail siding was crucial for the plant.
"This rail siding will help us to increase our supply of grass-fed cattle from western Queensland," he said.
"For a long, long time we have had a disadvantage in getting the cattle from there, but this will help us very much.
"So thank you very much for your investment."
Oakey Abattoir slaughters 900 head of cattle a day, five days a week, but wants to expand that to slaughter 1300 cattle a day, in a seven-day-a-week operation, abattoir general manager Pat Gleeson said.
"Today is a celebration for agriculture and the beef industry and it's a celebration of using the current infrastructure in better ways, to achieve better outcomes laced with common sense," he said.
"But personally, today is about jobs."
Agriculture Minister Bill Byrne frequently described the decision to fund the rail link as a "microcosm" of how the government could help the private sector.
"It is something to be celebrated by one and all," Mr Byrne said.
"This is a major step forward and a major step forward that establishes a platform for significant future investments in jobs growth particularly in this part of Queensland."
Transport Minister Stirling Hinchliffe said the $2.5 million investment to build the rail link "leveraged up" the opportunity for the $60 million investment from NH Foods.
"This is exactly the sort of partnership we should see, where we provide the opportunity to deliver catalytic infrastructure," Mr Hinchliffe said.
"That will deliver for this project locally, but also provides a great platform for that mode shift we want to see about getting more freight onto rail."
Toowoomba mayor Paul Antonio and Agforce cattle president Brim Struss both hailed it "as a great day for Queensland", while South West Regional Economic development chair Lindsay Godfrey said the community had noticed government beginning to "open its cheque book in the bush."
