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Fremantle Freezing Meat Works
For many years, small private slaughterhouses were scattered across Perth and its suburbs, catering to local communities. Around Hamilton Hill and Bibra Lake there were not only several of these small slaughterhouses but also about ten piggeries.
Even though health inspectors carried out checks and laws were meant to keep standards in place, conditions were often far from clean. Animals were kept in overcrowded, unhealthy and sometimes cruel environments, which encouraged the spread of disease. As Western Australia’s population grew rapidly, the problem became harder to ignore.
There were repeated calls to establish public abattoirs that could enforce proper hygiene and safety rules but progress was slow. Part of the delay came from resistance to breaking up the meat industry monopoly, which was plagued by financial scandals and increasingly difficult to control from a public health perspective. With only a limited number of government health inspectors to monitor so many sites, it took more than fifteen years before serious plans for a public slaughterhouse and freezing works finally moved forward.
Constructing the Works
By June 1916, the majority of Perth’s small private abattoirs had been forced to close, following years of concern about poor hygiene and animal welfare. The final operation, run by the well-known firm Connor, Doherty & Durack, lasted a little longer but was eventually shut down in 1917.
With private slaughterhouses gone, the pressure was on the State Government to create a properly managed, large-scale facility. Western Australia’s livestock industry was expanding quickly, yet the state lacked the infrastructure to prepare meat for export. Local producers found themselves at a disadvantage, struggling to compete with the eastern states where freezing works and abattoirs were already well established.
In response, the Western Australian Government under the Lefroy Government, granted a charter to the WA Meat Export Co Ltd to construct the Fremantle Freezing Meat Works at Robbs Jetty (Owen Anchorage), which was designed by architect McKenzie. By the time works began in August 1919, the Government had been offered control of the abbattoir, which attracted considerable criticism, particularly due to the very large sum of funds involved in its establishment.
It was also known as the West Australian Meat Export Works. The site chosen was steeped in its own history, the grounds of the old Robb Jetty Explosives Magazine. The magazine, which had once stored volatile materials for shipping, was relocated further south to Woodman Point to make way for the new works.
Construction was expected to be completed within a nine month period but it would take a much longer period of time than anticipated. In October 1921, the abbatoir was expected to not be in full swing until the beginning of the following year, due to the low price of meat in England. At the same time, the Wyndham Freezing Works were experiencing their own difficulties with a shutdown forecasted for the near future due to difficulties in attracting labour.
The Fremantle Freezing Meat Works was more than just a slaughterhouse; it represented a turning point in the regulation of the meat industry. Operating under the Abattoirs Act of 1909, it became one of three state-regulated abattoirs (the other two being located in Midland and Wyndham) designed to meet strict health standards, ensure fair access to facilities and strengthen WA’s presence in international markets. It could chill and freeze carcasses so they would survive the long voyage to Europe by sea without spoiling. Whilst the government owned and operated it, farmers, pastoralists and exporters could pay a fee to have their stock processed there for shipping.
Robb’s Jetty was originally too short for large ships to berth close to shore. As a result, cattle bound for the abattoir had to be driven off the boats and forced to swim to the beach, which saw many swept away or drowned. Those that survived were herded into nearby paddocks to graze until it was time to move them to the abattoir.
Calls were made to extend the jetty as early as 1893. The following year, £200 was spent to extend it to 166.1 metres, allowing larger vessels to unload livestock safely onto the jetty itself. Despite its importance, the structure was eventually dismantled during the 1960s.
Transport improved again in 1898 when, after years of lobbying, the government extended the railway line south to Robb’s Jetty. This new connection eased congestion in Fremantle’s town centre and ended the hazardous practice of driving cattle through busy streets to load them onto rail wagons. The line also included a siding for the Fremantle Smelting Works, which had relocated from North Fremantle to take advantage of the improved rail line. In time, each abattoir complex at Robb’s Jetty gained its own siding from the main line, directly linking the precinct with Fremantle for the efficient movement of both stock and processed meat.
Over the decades, the works handled enormous volumes of cattle and sheep from across the state, arriving by ship, barge and later rail. The processing works didn’t just handle meat, it also generated valuable by-products such as hides, wool and tallow (refined animal fat). These were sold to private merchants and fed into other industries, with hides supplying tanneries, wool going to textile buyers and tallow used in everything from soap-making, lubricant and candle production. Beyond livestock, the abattoir also functioned as a cold-storage hub, storing supplies of potatoes, fruit and manufactured ice, which helped service Perth’s growing population and supported local markets.
Potatoes in particular, were being stored to avoid a glut in the market. Some twenty potato growers took advantage of the storage offer, which led to approximately 600 tons of potato being stored there at one time with farmers paying a weekly fixed rate of £21. Despite being stored in a coolroom, it was yet to be made operational, which led to 70% of the consignment being left to rot. Aside from the costs being charged, the farmers were then left responsible for sorting and dumping the ruined potatoes, with some farmers losing virtually their entire stock at a cost of £300.
At some stage, the abattoir passed into private hands and was run as a commercial enterprise until around 1942, when the Commonwealth intervened to provide financial support. As difficulties mounted, the government went a step further and purchased the facility outright. Following the takeover, it was renamed the Western Australian Meat Preservers and later became known as the Western Australian Meat Exporters.
History Today
The abbattoir was permanently closed in 1994, although other sources state that it closed in 1992 and the buildings were demolished in 1994.
One of the most distinctive features of the site was its tall brick chimney, which still stands today as a landmark. This chimney was part of the boiler house, the powerhouse of the operation. The boilers generated steam to drive machinery, operate the freezing plant’s compressors and provide hot water for cleaning and sterilising equipment. Without it, the facility couldn’t run.
When the abattoir closed in 1994, all but the chimney stack were demolished. The chimney stack was spared and preserved as a heritage structure in 1996, with Landcorp funding the chimney’s restoration at a cost of $50,000. It served as a lasting reminder of a site that played a major role in WA’s meat export industry for nearly a century.
