Beef Central publishes an occasional summary of appointments, departures and achievements occurring across the red meat and livestock supply chain. Send details for entries to admin@beefcentral.com

• New conservation role for former GRSB president
• New GM for Corporate Affairs at Teys; redeployments among plant managers
• First Inspector-General of Animal Welfare and Live Animal Exports
• Key appointments at Thomas Foods International
• Elders beefs up rural real property team
• University of Southern Qld appoints fifth Chancellor
• Vale rural broadcaster Neil Inall

New conservation role for former GRSB president

Former Global Roundtable for Sustainable Beef president Ian McConnel has started in a new role as executive manager for agricultural partnerships and natural capital with Bush Heritage Australia.

Ian McConnel

Bush Heritage Australia is a not-for-profit conservation organisation that aims to protect ecosystems and wildlife across the continent. Its website says it uses the best science, conservation and right-way knowledge to deliver landscape-scale impact. In essence, BHA buys land and partners with Aboriginal people to protect landscapes and native species. Its website list 51 parcels of land across all states and territories, ranging in size from a few hectares to large holdings like 235,000ha Evelyn Downs in South Australia’s remote north.

“We’re on the ground, working with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and the agricultural sector to make sure our impact is deep, sustainable and collaborative,” the organisation’s website says.

Mr McConnel’s career has been strongly focussed on sustainability and conservation themes. He spent almost five years on the Global Roundtable for Sustainable Beef, most recently as president. During this period he worked as director of sustainability within the international business unit of US protein giant Tyson Foods, and prior to that as global commodity lead for beef with the World Wildlife Fund.

New GM for Corporate Affairs at Teys; redeployments among plant managers

Teys Australia has appointed a new general manager of corporate affairs. Veneta Chapple will join the Queensland-based beef processing, lotfeeding and supply chain company in the role at the end of October.

Venetta Chapple

She replaces Michael Rogers, who left Teys in June to take up a new role as chief operating officer with labour sourcing specialists Agri Labour Australia.

Ms Chapple has spent the past seven years at the Australian Meat Processor Corporation, starting in 2018 as senior manager, key stakeholder engagement and later expending into roles as director of government and industry affairs, and most recently as general manager of strategic industry development. Her primary roles were in managing AMPC’s stakeholder relations, government affairs, and strategic policy research and development.

Prior to working with AMPC, Ms Chapple spent three years with chicken producer Inghams as head of corporate communication, and four years as director of public affairs at NSW Farmers.

She began her career as a finance journalist in Australia and the UK before moving into consulting in communications and corporate affairs.

Plant management redeployments

Meanwhile, there has been a series of recent redeployments and movements in Teys plant operations management ranks, following the departure of Lakes Creek (Rockhampton) general manager Wasantha Mudannayake. After more than 35 years with Teys (click here to access an earlier Weekly Grill podcast), Mr Mudannayake has moved to a new role with Greenhams managing the company’s Tongala plant in Victoria.

His replacement as general manager at Lakes Creek is Steve Thompson, who previously managed Teys Wagga Wagga for five or six years. In turn, Thanasi Toupas (known as Nas) has taken over as general manager at Teys Wagga. Nas was previously second in charge behind Steve Thompson for many years.

In other movements, Michael Wells has moved to Biloela to take on the general management role, with Richard Ingram filling his previous role as general manager at Teys Tamworth.

Lee Shipley has taken over as general manager at Teys Beenleigh, in southern Queensland, following the redeployment of Lachlan Teys, previously GM at Beenleigh, who is now working in an operations specialist role in charge of special projects.

First Inspector-General of Animal Welfare and Live Animal Exports

The Federal Government has appointed Katherine Clift as the nation’s first permanent Inspector-General of Animal Welfare and Live Animal Exports.

Dr Clift has a background in primary industries and experience leading regulatory systems, including animal welfare, agricultural and veterinary chemical use, food safety, and biosecurity. She was most recently executive director of Biosecurity Victoria, and earlier worked as executive director of biosecurity for WA’s Department of Primary Industries, after spending three years in where she had responsibility for managing New Zealand’s relationship with Europe across plant and animal health, and food safety and negotiating market access for NZ agricultural products.

She takes over from Acting Inspector-General Dr Mike Bond who was appointed on an interim basis in the live export component in October 2023. Legislation then passed last November that expanded the role to include animal welfare related objectives and functions.

Prior to the 2022 election, the Labor government had committed to increasing accountability and transparency for animal welfare in livestock exports. Agriculture minister Murray Watt said at that time that taking proactive steps to prioritise animal welfare “just makes sense.”

The new IG position was established as part of a suite of measures introduced by the Australian Government following a 2018 independent review into Australia’s regulation of live animal exports. The review was ordered by then agriculture minister David Littleproud following thousands of sheep deaths aboard the Awassi Express.

The report said that many of the regulatory failures that it had identified could be traced back to an earlier decision to disband the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry’s Animal Welfare Branch.

Dr Clift’s tenure will include auditing and reviewing systems and processes that underpin the DAFF’s regulation of animal welfare and livestock exports.

She grew up on a farm in South Australia and received her veterinary degree from Murdoch University and her Masters in Veterinary Public Health Management from the University of Sydney.

Key appointments at Thomas Foods International

Thomas Foods International has announced several key senior appointments as the beef and sheepmeat processor embarks on the next stage of global growth.

Tony Stewart

Tony Stewart is transitioning to the position of executive director on the board of Australia’s largest 100pc family-owned meat processing company, effective from 1 January. In doing so, he steps down as group chief executive officer, a position he has held since 2021.

His future role will focus on supporting the TFI Group in key areas including corporate governance, risk and key project delivery from a global perspective.

Darren Thomas remains in the position of Group Managing Director, and Tony Stewart will work closely with Darren and the executive leadership team over the coming months to ensure a seamless transition.

Mr Stewart had provided great leadership, support and service since joining TFI in 2014 – initially as Chief Financial Officer and later Chief Commercial Officer, Darren Thomas said.

“In his recent time as Group CEO, we have expanded significantly across Australia and overseas. As a Board member, Tony’s continued insight and counsel will be highly valuable as we set our course for future global growth,” he said.

Alexis Junin

In other executive developments, Alexis Junin has been appointed as TFI’s new chief financial officer. An executive with 20 years’ experience, he joins TFI having worked in senior management positions across Australia and globally within the advanced manufacturing field. Including roles as CFO and Deputy CEO with Naval Group Australia.

Shayne Newell has returned to Thomas Foods International to take on a newly-created position as Group Protein Solutions Manager. A former senior manager at TFI’s Murray Bridge facility, Mr Newell returns to oversee the commercial operation and development of TFI’s meat co-products business globally. Shayne has over 30 years’ experience in the food manufacturing industry including operations management and rendering plant management roles at Wodonga and Australian Lamb Company plants, as well as overseas.

Elders beefs up rural real property team

Elders has strengthened its rural real estate team with two key recent appointments.

Phillip Kelly last month started in a new role with the company as a property sales executive. He has more than 30 years’ experience in stock & station agency, agribusiness finance and rural real estate across a wide area in Qld, NSW and Victoria.

Mr Kelly has more specifically focused on development of the corporate rural market client segment and holds key relationships with many of the state’s corporate, institutional and high net worth landholders which will remain a key focus in his new role, which includes managing client-specific buy side mandates and management of campaigns with natural resources and natural capital features.

Mr Kelly holds both NSW and Qld real estate, stock and station and auctioneers licences.

Leah Freney

Also joining Elders’ rural property network is Leah Freney, who starts in her new role next week as a Rural Real Estate sales executive. Leah is a registered agribusiness property valuer and licenced real estate agent in Queensland, the Northern Territory and Western Australia.

Leah is a well-informed agribusiness advisor with a good track record in the beef, carbon, horticulture, cotton and broadacre cropping sectors, dealing with institutional, corporate, receivers and private family land holders and investors. Leah is focused on the client’s long-term agribusiness transactions and investment objectives.

Through extensive collaboration amongst her network both nationally and internationally, Leah is able to maximise the asset’s sale or purchasing outcome for her clients and offers a detailed approach to the sale process.

Leah has been involved in many high profile campaigns within Queensland, Northern Territory and Western Australia, in an ‘on market’ and ‘off market’ capacity. She previously worked in property transactions with Colliers and JLL, and before that as a valuer with Taylor Byrne.

Elders Real Estate QLD/NT manager Tim Lane it is great to have the experience of Phillip and Leah joining the Elders Rural team.

“Phillip’s addition will increase our focus on the corporate market as well as supporting our clients across the wider Elders footprint in property transaction services will be positive for Elders and their clients,” he said.

“Leah brings another dimension to our team with her valuation background and success in dealing with some significant sales transactions across a wide range of commodity classes. I look forward to working with both, as part of a wider sales team that can service all parts of the State and clients across all segments.”

New Chancellor for University of Southern Qld

The University of Southern Queensland has appointed Dr John McVeigh as its fifth Chancellor, commencing in the role in early December.

A respected academic and former politician, Dr McVeigh served at all three levels of government and is known for his leadership in regional development, agriculture, and education. As a Federal Parliamentarian, Dr McVeigh contributed significantly to policymaking and the advancement of rural and regional communities in Australia.

More recently, Dr McVeigh was director of the USQ-led Southern Queensland and Northern New South Wales Drought Hub and Chair of the Regional Economies Centre of Excellence. He is currently Chair of the Toowoomba and Surat Basin Enterprise (TSBE) and a board member of the Royal Agricultural Society of Queensland.

Prior to his political career, Dr McVeigh worked in agribusiness and management consulting. He holds a business degree from UniSQ and qualifications from two other Queensland universities.

“It is an honour to be appointed as the Chancellor of the University of Southern Queensland, an institution with a proud history of delivering high-quality education and research that truly impacts the lives of people in regional Queensland and beyond,” Dr McVeigh said.

Vale Neil Inall

Much loved rural journalist and broadcasting icon Neil Inall passed away last month, aged 91.

Neil dedicated his life as a rural journalist to listening to the people of country Australia, telling their stories, and advocating for their concerns.

Neil Inall

He grew up on a mixed farm in the Hawkesbury Valley in NSW and worked for three years as a jackaroo before attending Hawkesbury Agricultural College, where he graduated in 1957.

After spending four years working as an agronomist for the NSW Department of Agriculture, he resigned in 1962 to join the Australian Broadcasting Corporation as a rural officer at 2CR in Orange.

During this era Neil helped initiate a popular national Sunday morning radio program called Always on Sunday, which debuted in 1970, originally broadcast from Orange and hosted by Alex Nichol. Always on Sunday was the precursor to the long-running Australia All Over which has been hosted by Ian McNamara since 1986.

Reflecting on the program’s inception, he said in 2015 that he proposed a “more lively” Sunday morning program after realising the offerings of the day on ABC Radio were “really dull.”

While working at the ABC in Orange, Neil made his first foray into television, producing the rural program Signpost which aired on the ABC’s regional television stations and ABC TV in Canberra.

From 1979 to 1983, he hosted ABC TV’s national rural affairs program Countrywide. Prior to his tenure as the host of Countrywide, he anchored a similar national program on ABC TV called Horizon-5 from 1976 until 1979.

When he was dropped as the host of Countrywide by the ABC in December 1983, the decision was widely derided by viewers and media commentators alike.

After leaving the ABC in 1983, he co-founded the Cox Inall rural communications and public relations firm, now part of the international Dentsu PR conglomerate.

After becoming a regular contributor on the Nine Network’s Today program in the mid-1980s, Neil commenced hosting Cross Country, a rural affairs program produced at the Prime Television station in Wagga Wagga, NSW and aired nationally on the Seven Network from 1989 to 1999.

Away from the media, he held a number of roles with various organisations including serving as chairman of the Native Vegetation Advisory Council and as a NSW committee member of The Crawford Fund.

In 2015, Neil was awarded a PhD from Western Sydney University for his thesis about John Kerin, a long-serving Minister for Agriculture in the Hawke Government, entitled ‘The legacy of John Kerin : a Labor Party man of rural policy based on science’.

Mr Inall was named as the Man of the Year in Australian Agriculture in 1980.