A Fair Shears Share On Both Sides Of The Tasman

New Zealand wool harvesting trainer Elite Wool Industry Training has taken a big step to address global shortage of skilled woolshed labour by signing a Memorandum of Understanding with two of Australia’s major players in the industry.

The other parties are woolgrower-owned Australian Wool Innovation (AWI) and Australia's largest shearing and wool handling training organisation, SCAA Shearer Wool Handler Training (SCAA SWTI).

The MOU is in response to the global shortage of shearers and skilled woolhandlers, which New

Zealand wool and sheep meat producers have endured for the past two years, resulting in the costs of shearing increasing by at least 15-20 per cent.

But the problem is not confined to New Zealand, which competes with Australia and Northern hemisphere farmers and contractors for the same pool of shearing and woolhandling staff.

Elite chief executive and New Zealand-based Scotsman and former World Champion shearer Tom Wilson says working with Australia will, in the first instance, allow co-ordination and management of staff across the two countries, better promote the industry as a career, and improve both the supply and quality of staff.

Elite trainers in New Zealand include World and New Zealand champions such Wilson and fellow shearers Dion Morrell and Paerata Abraham and woolhandlers Joel Henare and Pagan Timene, exposing youngsters to the woolshed equivalent of training and working as if they were young rugby hopefuls training and playing with their All Blacks heroes.

SCAA SWTI chief executive officer Glenn Haynes said: “The agreement is not a silver bullet for the issue of skills shortages, but it will provide a platform that can align the approach to solving or at least mitigating some of the training issues that both nations are experiencing now.”

“This agreement will allow for the training organisations to work together on shearing and wool handler training consistencies, across the Tasman,” he said.

“For example, it will help ensure that when young kiwis come to Australia to shear their shearing pattern and technique will be consistent and align with what the Australia market requires. It will also ensure that young Australians travelling to New Zealand will have a better understanding of the New Zealand Crossbred shearing techniques, as will the wool handlers.”

The transient nature of the workforce is seeing ever increasing numbers of shearers and wool handlers travelling across both sides of the ditch for work experience.

Haynes said: “With the level and experience of the trainers involved in the combined organisations, the knowledge that can be shared from both sides can only be beneficial for the industry.”

Wilson says he’s delighted with the opportunity to align and co-ordinate training with his Australian colleagues.

“In the past New Zealand and Australia have worked closely to manage a trained workforce on both sides of the Tasman,” he says. “It is great to have the opportunity to provide a strong, co-ordinated level of support to the industry again.”

“We expect this to grow opportunities for young people to get into this great industry both here in New Zealand and in Australia,” he says.

All three entities have quality and animal welfare at the forefront of their training ethos – “…so it makes sense to combine our efforts.”

AWI head of Shearer Training Craig French supported the initiative from the start and said: “The shearer and wool handler shortage is an international problem and therefore we need to take a broader approach to addressing it.”

Over the next 3 years, Australian wool growers will invest more than $10 million into shearer and wool handler training and French says it is best to have an agreement with transtasman counterparts to ensure the investment “is not one-sided and is in-sync with what is happening in New Zealand.

Australian Shearing Contractors Association secretary Jason Letchford said: “I’m excited about the additional benefit of being able to facilitate the transition of learner shearers and woolhandlers between the countries. This will help to accommodate the seasonal cycles and better ensure consistency of work for new entrants to the industry, an issue that has been the Achilles Heel for learner shearers in the past.”

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