Cedar Meats boss was long-time ALP member
By Benjamin Preiss and Ben Schneiders May 7, 2020 — 4.27pm
The owner of the western suburbs abattoir at the centre of Victoria’s biggest coronavirus cluster was a member of the Victorian Labor Party for more than two decades, The Age has confirmed.
Cedar Meats owner Tony Kairouz was a member of the party from 1993 until 2017, when his membership lapsed. He had been a member of Labor’s large Heidelberg branch. Cedar Meats donated $15,000 to the Victorian Labor Party in 2014.
The Cedar Meats abattoir in Brooklyn. CREDIT:CHRIS HOPKINS
The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases connected to Cedar Meats, in the Melbourne suburb of Brooklyn, rose by 13 to reach 62 on Thursday. At a press conference where those numbers were revealed, Premier Daniel Andrews was forced to answer questions about the government's decision not to immediately reveal the name of the facility once the outbreak was identified.
Mr Andrews insisted he was proud of the way authorities handled the outbreak.
A spokeswoman for Cedar Meats confirmed Mr Kairouz had been a party member until 2017 and knew several Labor MPs through community circles.
"The Kairouz family are active members of the community in the western suburbs," she said.
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