The Nevanas affair was a political scandal in Western Australia that was partly responsible for the downfall of John Scaddan's Labor government.
Early in 1914, Scaddan and one of his ministers signed a contract with the London financier S. V. Nevanas, for the erection of a meat works in Wyndham at an estimated cost of £A 155,000, equivalent to A$20.6 million in 2022.
They did so without consulting the rest of the cabinet, and against the advice of officers of the Public Works Department, who felt that the price was unrealistically low.
Many members of the Labor party were angered at the failure to call for public tenders, and the opposition were unsatisfied with the government's explanation for the cancellation.
[2] The report triggered an extensive and acrimonious debate in the Legislative Assembly in November 1915, during which the government was strongly opposed by three of its backbench members, Edward Heitmann, Bertie Johnston and George Taylor.