Ian Sinclair, then Minister of Primary Industry, later announced that a police investigation of Primmer's claims found no evidence of meat substitution.
The appendix noted that: The flesh of donkeys, goats, kangaroos, buffaloes and horses, killed in the field and without regard to any consideration of hygiene ... was used indiscriminately to produce food for human consumptionSeveral meat distributors in Australia were found to have purchased low-grade cuts of meat intended for pet food, which they then repackaged and exported for human consumption.
Justice Woodward noted that the scale of the operation could not be properly assessed due to attempts to cover it up, but said that the types of meat used as substitutes would be easily obtained in the eastern states of Australia.
[4] Sources within Victoria Police claimed that meat processors were being warned when to expect quality inspections by American officials.
[3] A 1981 article in The Washington Post noted that the condition of kangaroos processed for meat did not meet United States standards.
[10] Richard V. Hammon, a principal at Profreeze, was convicted of "forging documents issued by or deliverable to Commonwealth authorities" and sentenced to four years in prison.
[4] Critics of Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser claimed that his administration had failed to respond to the scandal until it reached international proportions.
[11][3] At the time, concerns arose that the scandal would affect the beef-exporting industry, as the United States was the largest importer of Australian beef.