THE northern cattle industry is mourning the loss of one of its most respected, dedicated, and tenacious leaders, following the death of David Warriner on Friday after a long battle with illness.

Mr Warriner served as president of the Northern Territory Cattlemens Association from 2012 to 2015 and of the Northern Territory Livestock Exporters Association from 2016 until 2021.

His leadership style was defined by fearless, straight-talking advocacy, a deep commitment to industry unity, and a clear and positive vision for unlocking the north’s potential.

As a long-serving chair of both the NTCA and the NTLEA, he consistently championed the need for producers to receive a viable price to remain profitable, while pushing governments to foster a political, legal and regulatory environment more conducive to encouraging quality northern food production.

He was outspoken in his criticism of a political system that allowed short-term agendas to block progress, calling instead for bipartisan support for land tenure reform, investment-friendly policies and practical infrastructure planning to help northern Australia meet the demands of Asia’s rising middle class.

He encouraged producers and exporters to work in unison, noting that “nothing assists industry quite like a united voice,” when engaging government. His leadership of both the NT cattlemen’s and exporters associations exemplified his commitment to collaboration and encouraging all sectors of the industry to work together.

NT industry organisations have a reputation for punching above their weight, as president David Warriner’s forceful and entertaining speeches to the association’s annual conferences personified the straight shooting, no-nonsense, common-sense focus of the northern cattle industry.

The son of one of the NTCA’s founding presidents and former Consolidated Pastoral Co Chief Executive Ken Warriner, through his background, career and own achievements David was an integral part of the fabric of the Northern Territory cattle industry who personally experienced its highs and lows.

Born in Alice Springs, Mr Warriner learned the ropes as a jackeroo in the Top End with Consolidated Pastoral Co. With wife Gina he managed Nockatunga Station in the channel country for CPC, worked for the company’s processing and meat trading division Consolidated Meat Group based in Rockhampton, ran Tipperary Station, managed northern property portfolios for a number of off-shore owners and operated a successful agribusiness consultancy.

In comments to Beef Central today, numerous friends and former colleagues have paid tribute to David, a skilled stockman and pilot, as a deep thinker, an encouraging and motivating mentor and a commanding presence in any location, from cattle yards to corporate offices and corridors of power in Canberra.

Mr Warriner’s contribution to the northern cattle industry was formally recognised at the 2025 NTCA conference in late March when he was awarded Life Membership of the organisation.

Tracey Hayes, who served as NTCA CEO during David’s tenure as president, described him as a “great champion of industry” who never compromised on his values regardless of the situation he faced.

“I’ve got an enormous amount of fond memories of David, obviously he was a friend, but also my chairman for a number of years, and from a professional perspective I had enormous regard for his ability as a chairman, and his ability to be able to think strategically about a problem,” she told Beef Central today.

“He had enormous passion and commitment to representing the interests of pastoralists, of cattlemen and women, his values were deeply aligned with them as chair of both the NTCA and NTLEA. He lived and breathed the desirable outcomes we were seeking. He could relate to it so very strongly.

“He had a great depth of personal involvement and history in the northern Australian landscape. He stayed true to his roots regardless of where he was in the world.

“I had the opportunity to be on numerous international delegations with him and he was able to modify his approach depending on the environment that we were in, but he always stayed true to that value-set, no matter how difficult the discussion or the situation we were dealing with was.”

She added that David was also a great character with a dry sense of humour.

“He could possibly have been perceived as someone with a serious nature, but he actually was just a real softy at heart, and his true great love of course was his family. Along with his deep love of industry, the baseline that his family provided for him to go on and do the things that he did, David really drew on that and valued it enormously.”

David Warriner, Tracey Hayes and David Crombie at the 2025 NTCA gala dinner.

David was the president of the NTCA when the industry launched a class action against the Federal Government’s 2011 suspension of live cattle exports to Indonesia, ultimately resulting in a Federal Court finding that the Government had performed illegally in imposing the hugely consequential ban.

Despite the court’s ruling, the Federal Government is yet to pay damages to the many affected parties. “Obviously with David’s passing and Luke’s passing, two great champions of industry, and also seeing a just outcome for the class action, it is a tragedy that we haven’t been able to achieve that in both of those men’s lifetime,” Tracey said.

“It is a tragedy that he has been taken far too young.”

Northern Territory Livestock Exporters Association chair Nick Thorne described the loss as “beyond sad.”

“We have lost an incredibly good leader and great man,” he told Beef Central.

“He was an incredibly good bloke, a very good leader who was able to make things happen, in reality he was like a general – General Warriner – he was a good one to get the troops moving.

“He was very level-headed as well. Quite often industry can have different factions, he was always able to keep people in line. He was a tremendous president of the Cattlemen’s association and getting him to come over to the NTLEA as chair was very good for our association as well.

“He was the main person responsible for the rebuilding of the Berrimah export yards, which is now a showpiece for northern cattle industry.”

David was also an enthusiastic and valued mentor for many up-and-coming leaders in the industry.

Will Evans, who served as CEO of the NTLEA under David before becoming CEO of the NTCA, said David’s generosity and guidance were critical to his time both associations.

“He was a strong leader who expected much from those who worked for him. But he was also always there to help when needed, to offer advice and to roll up his shirt sleeves and jump in with you during the tough times,” he said.

“As a chairman of the NTLEA, he displayed a clear vision for the industry and worked passionately to see it achieved. It was a privilege to work with him. He taught me so much about the Territory and the industry, lessons for which I will forever be grateful.”

“He will be deeply missed.”

Alister Trier from the NT Government went to school with David and went on to work closely with him for many years as their careers in the north overlapped.

“David was first and foremost a top cattleman, who was passionate about his industry and the people in it.

“David’s values included commitment to family, honesty and courage in saying what needed to be said, and seeking action where action was absent.

Alister recalled being very impressed with David when he accepted the role of policy adviser to the former Deputy Chief Minister and Minister for Agriculture, Gary Higgins.

Despite being frustrated with Government, rather than throw rocks, David made a decision to get involved instead and to try to understand what it was like from within.

“I am not sure that he completely enjoyed the experience, but I can tell you he kept people like me honest,” he said.

He also recalled David as a pilot coming in to land at Lake Nash Station in the mid-1990s.

“Most Warriners get nose bleeds at anything over a 1000 feet, but David came in at about 4000 feet and landed in one single and steep descent.  I put this down to David wanting to have a high-level view of pretty much everything.

“I have known David a long time, we went to school together in 1975 at Toowoomba Prep.  I will miss him a lot.”

More tributes and details on David’s funeral service will be published in coming days.