SOCIAL PHOTOS: Industry gathers for WA Shearing Industry Association meeting at Ingot Hotel

Shearers and contractors from across the State gathered at the Ingot Hotel in Perth on Saturday, January 21, for the WA Shearing Industry Association’s first official get-together in six months. Shearer and wool handler training, farmer and contractor agreements, workforce management, accounting and payroll requirements were all hot topics at the general meeting — one of two the group holds each year. WASIA president Darren Spencer highlighted the group’s efforts and achievements since its annual general meeting in June last year, which included promoting its SafeSheds program. In his opening address, Mr Spencer said it had been an interesting year for the shearing industry with COVID-19 making it difficult to find and retain staff and Zoom meetings becoming the norm. He said the formation of the WoolTag committee would hopefully make it easier to train staff and the shearing data used to help Australian Wool Innovation assess where funding was most needed. WoolTag was formed in June last year to help determine how AWI should best invest in training shed staff, with regular meetings to determine how to better use resources available. The importance of creating safe and high-quality working environments for young staff was also a focus of the day, with contractors and industry representatives agreeing it was crucial. The need to create space for learner shearers in shearing sheds was also highlighted, with one contractor saying new workers needed to be able to learn and have reasonable expectation. Narrogin TAFE wool classer Rob Carter gave a lively presentation that included a joke about Mr Spencer being one of the “living legends from Lake Grace” alongside Dockers midfielder Nat Fyfe. He showed photographs of several shearing demonstrations held at schools in regional WA in a bid to promote shearing as a career and break down barriers between youngsters and the industry. One of the visits coincided with the school’s crazy hair day, with pictures of the children and their spraypainted hair providing a great juxtaposition with the sheep’s white wool. More details of the general meeting will be covered in future editions of the Countryman.