Mudginberri Dispute - Aftermath

Aftermath

The dispute had come at the expense of a four month picket line and a total of $144,000 in fines against the union and a pending lawsuit for damages under Section 45D of the Trade Practices Act. The Mudginberri dispute took 27 court cases and two years of litigation. Although the NFF and MAFTA worked together during the dispute, once a settlement was reached MAFTA informed the ACTU it would not take part in any damages claim as it was only concerned with the health of its industry and not with an ideological battle with the trade union movement.

Jay Pendarvis, the Manager of Mudginberri Station, was eventually awarded $1,759,444 damages. In subsequent interviews Pendarvis claimed he was not anti-union but that he believed the union was mis-using its power by trying to impose an unworkable award on his business. Half way through 1985 Pendarvis had second thoughts about the dispute and the NFF tactics and said: 'It became a power thing: "We're going to destroy the unions"', but was convinced to remain committed to the NFF strategy by senior officials of the NFF.

In 1986 it was revealed in Business Review Weekly that the Country Liberal Party Government of the Northern Territory facilitated loans to Pendarvis with the proviso that he sue the union for damages. The union was able to survive financially through levies placed upon membership, and while the defeat briefly united members, the union was ultimately weakened as more experienced union officials resigned from exhaustion, according to union organisers Pat Roughan and Jack O'Toole.

In 1987, the Katherine abattoir reopened and began operating on a contract system with about half the previous work force. Union activists were blacklisted from employment where previously the abattoir was unionised and working under award conditions. Mudginberri reportedly shut its doors within two seasons.

Ian McLachlan, who was president of the National Farmers Federation (NFF) during the dispute and later a minister in the Howard Government, wrote that Mudginberri "turned the tide" against union power and "changed the nature of industrial relations in Australia". John Howard, then leader of the Opposition, urged the creation of many more Mudginberris. Barrister for Pendarvis and the NFF was Peter Costello, who was to later co-found the H. R. Nicholls Society, act for Dollar Sweets in the Dollar Sweets dispute and go on to become the federal treasurer in the Howard Government and a prominent architect of the Howard Government Industrial Relations reforms.

By 1998 there were no functioning abattoirs in the Northern Territory.