Community & Business
26 February, 2025
Queensland’s oldest butchery turns 111
QUEENSLAND’s oldest butchery will be celebrating its 111th birthday in March and business owner Jimmy Malone plans to make it a special community event.
The Yungaburra Butchery, established in 1914, stands as the oldest operating butcher shop in Queensland, with the building itself being heritage-listed.
“It’s a good old butcher shop, and you only turn 111 once so you might as well have a bit of a party for it,” owner of two years, Jimmy said.
“It’s definitely something worth celebrating and it’ll be good for the town itself the whole way through.”
The celebration is set to be held on 22 March in conjunction with the monthly Yungaburra markets.
There will be a display of old butchery equipment supplied by the Herberton Historic Village all dated from when the butcher shop was originally built.
There will also be a live sausage-making demonstration coupled with a talk about the history of the shop and town, as well as a free sausage sizzle.
“People can come and have a look at all the old equipment and get a feel of what would’ve been in-store back in the day,” Jimmy said.
“I’ll also be doing live sausage making. I’ve got an old mincer that I’ll be using and I’m also trying to get my hands on a vintage sausage filler that I can use as well.
“I’ll be doing a bit of a talk as I’m making the sausages, about the town and about the butcher shop, just going through all the history.
“Every market weekend we do a donated sausage sizzle to a small community group, so they’ll be doing that on the day.
“I also found a really old cut-out where people can stick their heads in and take a photo.”
Originally from Cairns, Jimmy moved to Malanda when he was 12 and started working at a butcher shop in Malanda as “the clean-up kid”. He later left school at 15 to begin his apprenticeship as a butcher.
His love for life on the Tablelands only grew and he “hasn’t left the place since”.
“I’ve been employed here for about seven years, and I’ve owned it for two years now,” he said.
“I love being a butcher because I just love food, I like to cook as well, and just knowing the whole process really intrigues me.
“I’ve done work as a slaughterman, and I pride myself on being able to pick a good animal and from there work it the whole way through until someone’s there eating it.
“It’s kind of like how long’s a piece of string you know, like why is anyone so interested in a particular thing.
“It’s pretty cruisy as a butcher too, I’m not getting wet when it’s raining outside or I’m not sweating my butt off when it’s stinking hot.”
Over the years he’s spent living on the Tablelands, the 27-year-old has learned a great deal about the history of Yungaburra and is proud to continue the butchery’s legacy by providing good-quality products.
“We really pride ourselves on quality of work and over the last couple of years I’ve really been pushing for a more natural, healthier product,” Jimmy said.
“Including all natural sausages, with no preservatives or fillers, actually 100% grass-fed beef with no GMOs or anything like that, and we use Lilydale free-range chicken as well.
“We also source our produce as locally as possible. Our cattle come from a farm about a five-minute drive down the road, and all the pork comes from just outside of Atherton.
“It’s just the kind of shop where you know you can come and get something good, really.”
The butchery was built by the H.S William company, named after Henry William, who was one of the pioneers and founders of Yungaburra.
After his death, his family developed the company to continue his legacy.
They built an abattoir near Peeramon and then they opened the butcher shop in Yungaburra as the town was expanding.
Originally, Yungaburra was an overnight stop for people travelling up the old Gillies Range to work the goldfields and tin mines.
But at its foundation was the abundance of quality hardwood in the area, such as silky oak, Queensland maple, and red cedar, which drew more people in to work the (now closed) mill. Many of the streets are even named after those hardwoods.
Jimmy also has a special surprise for Tablelanders, with the promise of “bringing back the old classic” that is the Yungaburra Butchery radio ad.
The infamous radio ad song had locals turning up the dial when they heard the opening line, “If you like meat” - the catchy melody and clever lyrics burned into locals’ brains all over the Tablelands.
It was cancelled shortly after Jimmy assumed ownership of the shop for budgeting reasons and was then seemingly forgotten.
It will make its comeback in the weeks leading up to the celebration, where it will then stay on the radio circuit indefinitely.
