Peter Menegazzo (1944? – 2 December 2005) was an Australian grain grower and cattle baron. Born to an immigrant family of fruit and vegetable growers, Menegazzo was said to be an intensely private person who rarely gave media interviews. Menegazzo's father emigrated from

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in 1925 to settle near

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

. Menegazzo helped build the family's fruit and vegetable merchant businesses across Australia. He later moved to Victoria, where he would become Australia's largest potato grower. In 1987, after a Cape holiday, Menegazzo moved his interests to beef and purchased several cattle stations, including Van Rook, Glen Ore and Warren Vale. In 2003, Menegazzo came under media attention with his purchase of

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, said to be the largest rural transaction in Australia's history. The chain of events surrounding that sale caused outrage in the beef industry who were attempting to gain control of the company. Partner in the Nebo Consortium (with

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, founder of

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, and Queensland grazier Peter Hughes), Menegazzo became one of Australia's largest landholders, and the third-biggest cattle owner, with the $417.5 million plus debt sale, gaining and a herd of half a million cattle. Eight months after the sale, the Nebo group split over the management of the properties, and Menegazzo bought out the remaining half for a rumoured $340 million. He reaped a reported cash return of over 500 million in less than a year. Around 2:30 on the afternoon of 2 December 2005, Menegazzo, his wife Angela, pilot Anthony Gobel, and co-pilot Derek Mostyn were killed when the 23-year-old twin engine

Piper Chieftain The Piper PA-31 Navajo is a family of cabin-class, twin-engined aircraft designed and built by Piper Aircraft for the general aviation market, most using Lycoming engines. It was also license-built in a number of Latin American countries. Ta ...

Rego VH-PYN they were flying on, crashed. The impact left a path of wreckage about west of Condobolin, New South Wales. The ATSB report on the crash found: * The aircraft was operating in the vicinity of thunderstorm cells. * In circumstances that could not be determined, the aircraft's load limits were exceeded, causing structural failure of the

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. The Menegazzos were survived by three sons and a daughter.

References

* * * * * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Menegazzo, Peter 1944 births 2005 deaths Accidental deaths in New South Wales Australian people of Italian descent Australian stockmen Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in Australia Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in 2005