Tasmania and its governments have seemingly always enjoyed close working relationships with industries or companies that enjoy a tarnished reputation: the smelters the salmon industry, their own Forestry Tasmania, Ta Ann, Gunns, and JB Swift spring to mind.

The marriage of Huon Aquaculture and JB Swift is ideally suited to the business and political culture of Tasmania.

A quick internet search to discover the credentials of the owners of JB Swift show that their approach to dealing with governments is entirely suited to the prevalent culture of the maaaaates that run Tasmania, where you can buy power and an election and nobody raises an eyebrow.

Colin Bettles in Farmonline National 5 Jun 2017 wrote:

Queensland Nationals Senator O’Sullivan said given the employment and beef manufacturing power of JBS in Australia, the government would need to ensure local impacts were avoided, due to the corruption fine.

The controlling shareholder of JBS – J&F Investimentos – has agreed to pay the 10.3 billion reals fine ($5.4 billion) linked to a political corruption and bribery scandal in Brazil, following a series of offers and counter offers between authorities…

Senator O’Sullivan said the scale of political corruption exposed in Brazil was “simply not possible” in Australia.

“There’s a whole different cultural atmosphere here,” he said.

“We’ve got some of the toughest rules and regulations about disclosure and corporate governance around interaction between big industry and our nation’s politician.

“I’m satisfied nothing that would even remotely resemble what happened in Brazil would be present here.”

According to reports, J&F’s owners, Joesley and Wesley Batista, last week resigned from their board positions and claim to have bribed about 1900 politicians in recent years…

JBS Australia has meat processing facilities and feedlots in South Australia, Victoria, Tasmania, Queensland and NSW for beef and other products including sheep and pigs, with its northern division processing up to 1.4 million head of cattle annually…

On 14 October 2020 The Wall Street Journal wrote:

Brazil’s J&F Investimentos, which controls the world’s largest meatpacker, JBS SA, put an end to a long-running legal dispute in the U.S. over bribes it paid in Brazil, agreeing Wednesday to pay $128 million to settle the American case.

J&F admitted in 2017 to paying about $150 million in bribes to Brazilian politicians to secure cheap government funding to fuel one of the most ambitious global acquisition sprees in Brazilian corporate history. The affair landed its two major controllers, the billionaire brothers Joesley and Wesley Batista, in jail for several months.

J&F Investimentos, in a federal court in New York on Wednesday, pleaded guilty to violating the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.

“As part of this scheme, executives at the highest levels of the company used U.S. banks and real estate to pay tens of millions of dollars in bribes to corrupt government officials in Brazil to obtain hundreds of millions of dollars in financing for the company and its affiliates,” said Brian Rabbitt, acting assistant attorney general of the Justice Department’s criminal division.

Meanwhile, the Huon Aquaculture letter to staff of 8 August 2021:

Dear staff,

As you may be aware, this evening, Huon announced it had entered into a scheme implementation deed with an Australian subsidiary of JBS S.A (JBS) under which JBS proposes to acquire 100% of Huon shares by way of a scheme of arrangement.

Huon’s Board has recommended Huon shareholders vote in favour of the scheme and will themselves vote all shares held or controlled by them in favour of the scheme (to the extent permitted and subject to certain conditions).

The Board considers this offer to be compelling for all Huon shareholders and will enable shareholders to realise an attractive value for their shares.

On a company level, JBS is committed to ensuring Huon continues to be a leading Tasmanian salmon producer that supports the Australian economy, continues to be a significant employer nationally and supports the local communities in which it operates.

JBS recognises the value of the Huon brand and its staff and is excited to be part of this next phase of growth for the company. JBS is the largest animal protein business and second largest food company in the world with operations in North America, South America, Europe, Australia and New Zealand. JBS is listed on the Brazil Stock Exchange with a market capitalisation of approximately US$15 billion. JBS has been present in Australia since 2007 and is one of the largest meat and food processors in the country with a portfolio of beef, lamb, pork and value added products.

For further information, refer to the ASX market announcements by Huon and JBS.

In closing we wish to thank all our loyal and valued employees for their contribution to the company and we are extremely proud of what we have built and achieved together. The proposed scheme with JBS is testament to the highly attractive business we have all built with our continued focus on high quality and environmentally sustainable salmon farming.

Further information will follow over the coming weeks.

Our best wishes to you all

Peter and Frances (Bender)

TASMANIAN TIMES: Tattarang ‘Twiggy’ and the JBS-Huon Deal.