The Mudginberri abattoir was the focus of a major industrial relations dispute from 1983 to 1985 in Australia's Northern Territory which was notable for being the first successful use of legal sanctions against a union since the gaoling of Victorian Tramways union leader Clarrie O'Shea in 1969. The successful prosecution of the Australasian Meat Industry Employees Union (AMIEU) under section 45D of the Trade Practices Act was seen by the National Farmers Federation and the developing New Right in and outside the Liberal Party of Australia as a breakthrough in a campaign to break the power of the unions and introduce contract employment.