Shear school nears completion

On-site accommodation is included in the development.

It comes more than 12 months after the new shearer training facility and research centre was first proposed, which brought hope it could help ease the Australian shearer shortage.

AWI chairman Jock Laurie said in light of the workers shortage, they want to show their confidence in the shearing industry by establishing the new facility at Falkiner Memorial Field Station near Conargo.

“You've got to have confidence in your own industry,” he said.

“We're prepared to continue to train, we continue to do research and continue to invest in the industry and that's critically important.”

“I mean wool harvesting is an absolutely critical component of wool production – without that you don't have it.”

Mr Laurie said they were originally hoping to have all the facilities ready and open this month.

After facing difficulties securing builders, he expects it now to be later this month or sometime next month.

“I'd say over the next two or three months the facility will be right, and we would ideally like to start doing some training in the facility at that stage,” he said.

“There will be a facility there that provides accommodation, meal facilities, sheds and everything.

“Obviously with the Pacific Islanders scheme, there could be some opportunities down the track to do some full on training, so that'll be an important part.”

Mr Laurie said the training facility is expected to cater for 15 to 20 people at a time.

“It'll be about those numbers, but it depends on what the final configuration is when they've done the work,” he said.

“It will also vary depending on the number of people that want to go to the schools.

“But the first thing we have to do is get the facilities up to speed, and make sure that facilities could then be utilised for training or schools or whatever we need to do.”

Mr Laurie said the purpose of the facility was not only to address the worker’s shortage but also to open the door to other opportunities which may present themselves along the way.

“We're going to continue to train on a regular basis to make sure we've got a constant flow of new people coming into the industry,” he said.

“We've had a lot of support out of the industry itself in providing facilities to do that.

“But also there are things around the Pacific Islands scheme, about getting people in from those countries in numbers, and we could put those into a facility like Deniliquin and support them.

“So we've just got to see how those policies develop over a period of time as to what opportunities are there.”

Mr Laurie said it’s positive that some of the pressures caused by the national shearers shortage have started to ease in certain areas of the industry.

The weather “drying up” and COVID-19 restrictions lifting, which have both allowed people to travel more freely, are some of the reasons he said why those pressures have eased.

“Some areas we still have a bit of a problem. I know there's not any doubt about that, but it's starting to ease off in other areas.

“There's also been a lot of training and new participants coming in, and people shearing more numbers because of the improved schools.

“So there's been a whole range of things that have all come together to make it work fairly well and take some of the pressure off.”

Mr Laurie said AWI is also looking at potential research projects the facility can be utilised for.

“We've already had one field day there,” he said.

“As new technology arrives, there may well be more opportunities there too. But it’s just all in the planning at this stage and just to continue to work in this space, see where the chances arise for potential field days or training.”

In the meantime, Mr Laurie said AWI will be focused on how to best utilise the facilities for shearer training.

“We want to invest and we want to continue to train, and we want the facilities to be able to do it,” he said.

“It's all there. Plus the obligation that we have in maintaining the facilities as well.”