Australian trucking firm announces sudden closure
Don Watson Transport will wind up operations after 77 years of trucking, with an internal memo revealing bosses no longer believed the business to be viable. The family company had more than 300 staff operating 310 vehicles nationwide. The company covered an estimated 22million kilometres per year.
The company transported a large amounts of chilled and frozen meats and vegetables, conducting business with several large export meat processors in Queensland, New South Wales, and Victoria. The group's 140 trucks and 170 refrigerated trucks will be sold off, according to Beef Central. The company operated depots in Sydney, Brisbane, Melbourne, and Wodonga. It also held coldstore facilities in Sydney, Melbourne, and Wodonga.
G.H. 'Don' Watson founded the group in 1948 with the ex-army K Series Austin trucks. His trucks initially carried livestock between Melbourne, Dandenong and Ballarat. His son, Donald, then ascended to the role of managing director in 1973.
He died in his blue Holden Commodore in 1994 in his second flying lap at a practice for that year's Bathurst 1000 touring car race. His wife Noelene then took over the business and oversaw the company's redevelopment and expansion. Don Watson Transport took out Australia's Large Carrier of the Year award in 2021 for work done with the Woolworths Group.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Daily Mail
2 hours ago
- Daily Mail
Major blow for Australia just days before Anthony Albanese meets Donald Trump
The Trump administration has launched a review into the AUKUS security deal with Australia and the UK. The review, which was announced overnight on Thursday, will be led by vocal sceptic Elbridge Colby, Under Secretary of Defense for Policy who has called the pact 'crazy'. A defence official told The Daily Telegraph the Pentagon was looking at the deal to ensure 'this initiative of the previous Administration is aligned with the President's America First agenda'. 'As (Defence) Secretary (Pete) Hegseth has made clear, this means ensuring the highest readiness of our service members, that allies step up fully to do their part for collective defence, and that the defence industrial base is meeting our needs. It comes almost two weeks after it was revealed Hegseth urged Australian counterpart Richard Marles to increase military spending. Australia's total defence spend in 2024-25 was about $53.94billion, or 2 per cent of GDP. This is set to increase to 2.33 per cent by 2033-34 - but the US wants the number to be at least 3 per cent. Head of the US Seapower Subcommittee, Congressman Joe Courtney has spoken up to encourage his government not to abandon the pact. 'The new administration certainly has the right to review the trilateral AUKUS mission,' he said. 'But as the recent UK government's defence review determined, this is a defence alliance that is overwhelmingly in the best interest of all three AUKUS nations, as well as the Indo-Pacific region as a whole. 'To abandon AUKUS – which is already well underway – would cause lasting harm to our nation's standing with close allies and certainly be met with great rejoicing in Beijing.' Under the pact, Australia will spend up to $368billion eight nuclear-powered submarines and purchasing more from the United States. It marks the biggest defence investment in Australian history with the annual cost amounting to 0.15 per cent of GDP until the mid-2050s. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese will be attending the G7 Summit next week in Canada, during which he is expected to meet with Donald Trump.
The Guardian
2 hours ago
- The Guardian
Australia news live: productivity commissioner warns of job cuts coming from AI; aged care provider to close
Update: Date: 2025-06-11T20:32:16.000Z Title: Welcome Content: Good morning and welcome to our live news blog. I'm Martin Farrer with the top overnight stories and then it will be Nick Visser to take you through the day. The new industry and science minister, Tim Ayres, warns today that Australia must 'lean in hard' to the benefits of artificial intelligence or else risk ending up 'on the end of somebody else's supply chain'. His comments follow an appearance by Australia's productivity commissioner on 7.30 last night in which she said AI could cost jobs. More coming up. We'll bring you news soon of a big aged care provider which is closing next month. And parties in Tasmania will be gearing up for another election campaign today after the state's governor said she had been left with no choice but to call a poll to resolve the Apple Isle's political crisis. We'll have the latest.
The Guardian
3 hours ago
- The Guardian
Pentagon launches review of US-UK-Australia Aukus security alliance
The Pentagon has launched a review of the Aukus submarine agreement to make sure it is aligned with Trump's 'America first' agenda, throwing the $240bn defense pact with Britain and Australia into doubt The review may trigger more allied anxiety over the future of the trilateral alliance designed to counter China's military rise. 'The department is reviewing Aukus as part of ensuring that this initiative of the previous administration is aligned with the president's 'America first' agenda,' a Pentagon official said. 'This means ensuring the highest readiness of our service members, that allies step up fully to do their part for collective defense and that the defense industrial base is meeting our needs.' The 2021 Biden-era agreement – met with mass excitement in Australia's security world – would see Australia acquire nuclear-powered attack submarines, with the US promising to sell up to five Virginia-class vessels from 2032. A new joint submarine class would follow in the early 2040s. But now, the Aukus-skeptic US undersecretary of defense, Elbridge Colby, has called for the review to determine whether the Australia-UK-US security alliance aligns with Trump's 'America first' agenda, a number of anonymous sources told Reuters. Colby posted on X last year that it 'would be crazy' for the US to have fewer nuclear submarines if conflict erupted over Taiwan. The British government responded cautiously to news of the US review, saying: 'Aukus is a landmark security and defence partnership with two of our closest allies. It is one of the most strategically important partnerships in decades, supporting peace and security in the Indo-Pacific and Euro-Atlantic, while also delivering jobs and economic growth in communities across all three nations. 'It is understandable that a new administration would want to review its approach to such a major partnership, just as the UK did last year. The UK will continue to work closely with the US and Australia at all levels to maximise the benefits and opportunities which Aukus presents for our three nations.' Nuclear submarine powers are members of an exclusive club – only six countries currently operate them: the US, the UK, Russia, China, France and India. Aukus would make Australia the seventh. And while generally favored by US lawmakers focused on national security – and as Australia tries to step up its security spending in line with Trump's wishes – the deal's survival now appears to be in the balance. The US president himself does not seem to have made a priority of the pact. Asked about Aukus during Keir Starmer's visit in February, Trump appeared unfamiliar with the acronym, responding: 'What does that mean?' The review follows defense secretary Pete Hegseth's demand last week that Australia increase military spending from 2% to 3.5% of GDP. The country's prime minister, Anthony Albanese, has pledged only 2.4%, insisting Australia will set its own defense priorities. One British government official acknowledged the review to the FT and emphasized their commitment to the partnership. Hours before the news broke, the UK government announced a handsome $7.69bn investment to its nuclear submarine industrial base. Aukus represents the most substantial military cooperation between the three nations in generations, extending beyond submarines to include hypersonic missiles and advanced weapons technology. More details soon …
