NAPCO, Australian Country Choice and the Consolidated Pastoral Company have joined forces with other farm businesses to back AAM Investment Groups' bid to take over the state-owned Longreach Pastoral College site.
The major agricultural corporations are among nine businesses that have formally committed to fund and redevelop the facility, which was closed by the state government in 2019.
The group announced their intention to submit a tender for the state-owned facility on February 10, but only revealed details of the parties involved at a community meeting in Longreach on Thursday night.
Managing Director of AAM Garry Edwards told the meeting the bid recognised a shared need within the industry.
"This is the point where everyone gets to put up or shut up," Mr Edwards said.
"If you want to start something, you go to the people that are like-minded ... it's a crying shame to see something sit there and do nothing.
"We are saying that we're prepared to put our money where our mouth is and seek to secure this asset."
During the meeting, Mr Edwards said he's expecting 'many years work' to bring the facility up to scratch.
He speculated at least $5 million would be spent on the first round of refurbishments.
"That's just to get it back up and going," he said.
"We're going to do this essentially around a minimum five years, and potentially up to a full 10 years, worth of funding.
"We're kind of hoping at that point in time we can make it sustainable."
What's their plan?
Mr Edwards said the consortium would provide the funding, but it would hire professional service providers to train and educate workers at the college, and give them access to other AAM facilities and properties.
"We're in need of education, but we're not in the education business," he said,
"We will fund the redevelopment, we will fund the seeding of this but we're going to look to partner with at least one, maybe more, training organisations to deliver those services.
"What we're doing is pooling our resources to try and secure, redevelop and reopen.
"By doing this, it unlocks a really unique opportunity for that to happen in this country for the first time."
While agricultural training and education is a key element of the tender bid, Mr Edwards assured those in attendance the consortium wants the facility and land to be accessible to a diverse range of industries, businesses and organisations.
"We are openly welcoming any and all other people," he said.
"This is not an exclusive club. We're intentionally doing this to be inclusive because that's the best wat to keep this as a community or industry asset."
Community 'hopeful' for college future
Leanne Kohler, CEO of Outback Independent Living, was nervous heading into the meeting.
The local organisation has been fighting for accommodation for people with special needs but it was too small to tender for the whole site to build an independent living village.
But she said the meeting left her hopeful a compromise could be found.
"I've got a spring in my step," Ms Kohler said.
"We knew as a community group we had no hope of tendering...but we do know exactly what we want.
"If AAM would be good enough to offer us a parcel of land that we can set up set up our community village, that would make us all very happy."
Muttaburra grazier Boyd Webb said seeing such a large commitment from some of Australia's biggest pastoral families and companies was reassuring.
"It puts a bit of muscle behind the argument," Mr Webb said.
"What's really encouraging is it gets it back to industry.
"I think this will be very successful if we actually embrace it and give it the direction that it needs."
The official tender process for the Longreach Pastoral College closes February 23.
