A Greens MP is refusing to retreat from allegations that horse meat was found in Australian “beef” mince sold to consumers, even after the government regulator rejected the claim.
Abigail Boyd made the comments during an ABC Four Corners investigation into food fraud, which aired on Monday, saying she had obtained documents pointing to suspected meat substitution.
Boyd secured thousands of records from the NSW Food Authority through a parliamentary Standing Order 52 passed by the NSW upper house in May.
Speaking on Monday night’s program, she said the documents exposed what she described as a “really concerning number of illegal knackeries”.
“A lot of horses, and other animals, ending up in what people would assume to be minced beef or minced lamb,” Boyd claimed.
She also alleged the files referred to “mice fur found in products” and “metal shavings found in bread products”, as well as a troubling number of items labelled dairy-free that were not actually dairy-free.
The NSW Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development has denied the claims.
However, Boyd stood by her remarks, telling Daily Mail on Tuesday evening: “I stand by the comments I made in the Four Corners episode.”
Greens MP Abigail Boyd (above) has doubled down on claims illegal horse meat was found in Australian mince
Boyd was permitted to see secret documents about food investigations in NSW and claimed they contained evidence of illegal horse meat sold as ‘beef and lamb’
The MP said she was ‘limited’ by what she could say about the government documents that she had reviewed because some remained confidential.
‘However, the public facts are that there have been a string of cases in NSW of illegal slaughtering of horses, particularly of brumbies and ex-racehorses.
‘In full knowledge of that, the Food Authority has not, to my knowledge, conducted a single meat speciation test.’
Boyd welcomed a full investigation into apparent illegal slaughterhouses and how they dispose of dead horses.
‘These illegal knackeries exist for a purpose, and that is to supply cheap meat into the processed meat industry,’ she alleged.
‘In the 2024/25 financial year for instance, the Food Authority inspected just over 1,000 retail meat businesses, took just eight samples of meat from three butchers and only tested them for sulphur dioxide – not for what species they were.’
Boyd is not allowed to publicly share the documents she received earlier this year or identify any businesses named in them.
She has ordered an independent legal review of their secrecy and is pushing for their release.
Boyd alleged there was a ‘concerning number of illegal knackeries’ which facilitated the commercial slaughter of ‘horses, particularly of brumbies and ex-racehorses’
During her Four Corners interview, Boyd called for Australia to establish a dedicated food fraud unit – like those in the United Kingdom and Canada.
She reiterated the need for a specialised taskforce on Tuesday.
‘The Food Authority in NSW has been shrinking and is operating with its lowest headcount in many years – it is simply not well enough resourced to effectively protect NSW consumers from food fraud and breaches of food safety rules,’ Boyd told The Daily Mail.
‘We need a proper food taskforce in Australia, backed up by regulators who are resourced and empowered to take on large food producers and retailers.
‘This government isn’t taking food safety, quality or origin seriously.
‘A dedicated food fraud taskforce or authority would be a good first step to regaining the trust that has been broken with the public.’
The NSW DPIRD issued a statement calling for the ABC to ‘correct false claims of horse meat found in food products’.
It claimed the NSW Food Authority has not found horse meat in ‘beef, lamb or any food for human consumption’.
The NSW Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development said there has been no traces of horse meat found in meat intended for human consumption
‘The NSW Food Authority conducts random surveillance testing on meat products for species identification,’ a DPIRD spokesperson said.
‘There has been no incident of horse meat being found in products for human consumption.
‘Horse meat is permitted to be sold as food provided it is processed in a licensed abattoir. There are no abattoirs in NSW licensed to process horse meat for human consumption.’
The department highlighted a recent case of an illegal knackery in regional NSW.
‘Recently, an illegal knackery that was operating in Wagga Wagga had its products tested by DPIRD officers to confirm the species being slaughtered and processed by the person of interest conducting the unlicensed operations,’ the spokesperson said.
‘The meat processed at the illegal knackery was being used for pet food, predominantly for the greyhound industry.’
The person running the slaughterhouse was fined $12,000 and ordered to pay costs of $30,000.
