Back Roads Season 12 Episode 4

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Transcript

00:05Three, two, one, go.

00:15There are 71 million of them in Australia.

00:20But there is still no machine that can shear a sheep.

00:28This time on Back Roads, I'm heading into one of our biggest sheep-shearing hubs, the city of Wagga Wagga

00:35in New South Wales.

00:41It's one job that looks pretty similar to the way it always did, but I've heard it's actually very different.

00:56So when I first started, I actually used to get up and do my hair and make-up, and I

01:00would look like a raccoon by lunchtime.

01:03The annual essential requirement to shear a sheep of its fleece.

01:08This is the pinnacle, this is the harvest, so it's the most important time of the year is to get

01:12the shearing done and get it done properly.

01:15A skill that supercharged Australia's early economy and created a reputation of a tough, hard-living, nomadic lifestyle.

01:25The good old days, the best thing about the good old days, they're gone.

01:31I'm here to find out what's changed in a world where many now pursue careers.

01:39And some chase world records.

02:04It's just after 7am, I'm 45 minutes out of Wagga, meeting up with the first team of shearers.

02:10They're going to shear 1,200 sheep over the next couple of days.

02:22This part of the scene hasn't changed.

02:25The prepping of the gear.

02:27The waiting of the sheep.

02:29Because when that bell rings,

02:35there's money to be made.

02:51It's a world shearer, Lockie Robertson, knows well.

02:55It is such a fast production line here.

02:58Yeah, yep.

02:59So, today we're just doing a main shear shearing merino use.

03:03We have four shearers on the board at the moment and we have people sorting the wool, a rouse about.

03:09There's two of them and there's a wool classer, Brittany, who is sending the wool in different lines depending on

03:16the quality of the wool and then there's Michael over there who's putting the bales out once it's all pressed

03:22up.

03:22All the shearers.

03:24All the shearers are paid per sheep and it can quickly add up.

03:28The very best shearers can earn five grand a week.

03:33How long does it take to get good and to be earning big money?

03:37Oh, I think my first day shearing when I was, I don't know, I was 15 or 16, I was

03:42sure about 60.

03:43So...

03:4460?

03:44Yeah, yeah.

03:44And how many would you do now?

03:46Oh, on a good day now, 250, like consistently, so...

03:52The technology hasn't really changed that much since the first merinos arrived in Australia in 1797.

04:01Hand blade shearing very quickly became mechanised.

04:04The combs got a bit wider.

04:07The floor levels were raised in the sheds to make it easier for the roustabouts.

04:12Some now wear back braces.

04:15But that's about it.

04:17The real difference I can see is the people.

04:21Back in the day, shearing sheds were male dominated.

04:26Now, women like Brittany run the floor.

04:30As a wool classer who decides where the wool goes.

04:35Like this?

04:35Yep.

04:37And just aim as high as you can.

04:43That wasn't too bad.

04:44Wow.

04:46That is heavy.

04:47And then what do you do?

04:48So, my job is to class it out.

04:50And what I do is take out all the imperfections and get it ready for sale.

04:55So, what would you make this into?

04:57So, this could be like insulation, socks.

05:00The finer they are, the better money that they get.

05:02And the better quality things that they can go into.

05:04So, like clothing or suits and all that kind of stuff.

05:07This one's not bound for the catwalk though.

05:09No.

05:09Definitely not.

05:14At the industry's peak in the 1970s, there were around 180 million sheep in Australia.

05:21With some shearing sheds big enough to accommodate up to 120 shearers.

05:28It was a nomadic life.

05:30Away for often months at a time.

05:32It led to a reputation of some hard living.

05:36Some of them make up to 50 or 60 pounds a week.

05:40If you're a good kind of a shearer that save you money, don't be like some of them.

05:45Horses and bulls.

05:46I've seen fellas terrible hard working shearers.

05:49They'd run over the top of you to get into the pen to get the sheep in front of you.

05:53And when you see them a fortnight after shear them, they're broke.

06:03Shearing can still be nomadic, but nearby Wagga bucks the trend.

06:08It's one of the few places in New South Wales shearers can get almost year-round work locally.

06:15What's it like living in Wagga?

06:16Oh, it's amazing.

06:18You know, I get to come home to my son every night.

06:21I'll do the other B.

06:24I want to go yellow as well.

06:27Brittany lives with her partner Isaac, who's a shearer, and their son Tama.

06:32But her career path was very nearly something completely different.

06:37What were you doing then before you started shearing?

06:39I was actually a beauty therapist.

06:41So, completely different to this.

06:43I was doing facials, massages, all of that.

06:47So, when I first started in the shearing, I actually used to get up and do my hair and

06:50make-up.

06:51And I would look like a raccoon by lunchtime.

06:54So, that didn't last very long.

06:58It was while working as a beauty therapist that Brittany fell into the world of shearing.

07:03After a visit to New Zealand to spend time with her dad, who was a shearer.

07:08I was just having a really tough time when I was 17.

07:11And my mum sent me over to New Zealand to find my dad.

07:13So, I hadn't seen him for about 15 years.

07:16And I just started out as a learner.

07:18I just stuck to his hip and just watched him for a couple of days.

07:21And yeah.

07:21Just went on from there.

07:23It's meant a lot.

07:24It kind of made me who I am now.

07:27Before, I knew a little bit about New Zealand.

07:30I didn't know anything about the culture.

07:32I didn't know what it meant to be Māori.

07:34But in this industry, everybody and anybody is from New Zealand somehow and knows somebody

07:40in New Zealand.

07:41It's a lifestyle that I love now.

07:43It's something I've been able to build my family around.

07:47I've been able to travel.

07:48You make amazing money.

07:50You meet some really good people.

07:52This job takes you places a lot of jobs cannot.

07:55I don't think there's any cream corn in there though.

07:58Even in Wagga, shearing teams still have to travel.

08:02Sometimes.

08:03And in a few days, Brittany and a crew are heading away for six weeks.

08:10She's helping the camp's cook, Jazz, another Kiwi, prepare the shopping list.

08:16How many milks do we have?

08:18We've got 18 milk.

08:20And do we have any cooking oil?

08:21No, we need oil.

08:22We've only got a quarter of a bottle.

08:23Okay.

08:24Which means working out what they'll need to feed 21 people for 42 days with variety

08:32and on a budget.

08:34How much coffee have we got?

08:35We've got two tens.

08:38Throughout the 1900s, as the shearing teams worked the length and breadth of Australia

08:44following the work, the shearers would live together on the farms until the job was done.

08:51And even though Australia no longer rides on the sheep's back, there are plenty of big sheep stations left.

09:02Like the one where Brittany and the crew are headed.

09:08Into the heart of the open plains of the New South Wales Riverina.

09:12And the thing I've been quietly looking forward to.

09:19It's the stuff of Aussie legend.

09:21It's the great Australian shearing camp out.

09:27This is Gul Gumbla.

09:29A sheep station two and a half hours west of Wagga.

09:33And it's where 30,000 sheep are waiting to be shorn.

09:39These are top-of-the-range merino sheep.

09:43This wool is designer clothing grade.

09:46From a farmer who was born into it, Bruce Rollinson.

09:51So you've had a whole life with sheep, basically.

09:54Yes.

09:56That's right, yeah.

09:57I think I said to my sister, I said,

09:59make sure they don't mention sheep at my funeral, you know.

10:03You've had a whole life on it.

10:04I've had enough.

10:05I hope there's no sheep where I'm going.

10:12This is the pinnacle, this is the harvest.

10:14So it's the most important time of the year

10:16is to get the shearing done and get it done properly.

10:24It's a bit tough to shear.

10:25Yep.

10:25It's a bit sick of gear.

10:27Yeah, yeah, yeah.

10:28Yeah.

10:29While Bruce and Lachie discuss the game plan for the shearers,

10:33Brittany and the team are setting up the shed floor.

10:37If you guys are going slow and you guys have got time

10:39and this side's under the pump, go and help them.

10:43Teamwork makes the dream work.

10:46In the kitchen, Cook Jazz is firing up.

10:48They're firing up the ovens.

10:50For the next six weeks,

10:52they will all be living in very basic shearing quarters.

10:56It's a unique working environment.

10:59They live together, they eat together, they work together.

11:03So that's a little unusual, but it can be a lot of fun.

11:12A lot of people enjoy it.

11:13We've got good homegrown mutton for them to eat at night time

11:17and a fire going and a few beers after a heavy day's work

11:20and are telling stories about the other shed,

11:23the shed that they were in before and all that sort of thing.

11:25So it's a bit...it's camaraderie, I guess, yeah.

11:30In the shearing shed at Gool Gumbla,

11:32up to 11 sheep can be shorn at any one time.

11:38And right on, 7.30am, it comes alive.

11:50There's not a person in this shed who isn't a vital part of this fast-moving chain.

11:56Apart from me.

11:58This is such a machine.

12:00You cannot miss a beat in here.

12:03What surprised me the most, I think,

12:05the fact that the teamwork is so critical.

12:16Beautiful.

12:17Beautiful. That wasn't too bad.

12:18Not too bad.

12:19Not too bad.

12:20At least I got it the right way up.

12:29At the other end of the production line is 19-year-old Michael the Presser,

12:34pressing the wool into bales.

12:38So this is the main line, this wool,

12:39so this is the best wool that you can get.

12:41And down there further you've got all different sort of lines to the wool,

12:44so the class separates it and I put it into the press.

12:46What's the secret to doing it well?

12:50Not letting your bins get too high,

12:51otherwise you've got a lot of work to catch back up on.

12:53What does your family think about you working in the shearing sheds?

12:57Yeah, they're proud of me for doing it.

12:59Yeah.

12:59They're happy that I got away and got out and making money at a young age.

13:03What's your dream, Michael?

13:05Be a shearer.

13:06Yeah.

13:07Eventually get a full-time stand.

13:08For now I've got to do the hard yard to work my way up.

13:10Yeah.

13:14People do seem drawn to this life, to the energy of the shed, to the money.

13:20It's the same passion that's brought Lockie's dad, Tim,

13:24and his pop, Colin, both former shearers, to the shed today.

13:29They came to have a look, but there is still lanolin under their skin.

13:35This isn't for the cameras.

13:38Lockie's pop, Colin, is 78 and spent 50 years in the sheds.

13:44Oh, I just brought back so many memories.

13:46It looked like you couldn't help yourself.

13:48What was going on?

13:49I couldn't help myself.

13:52I just had to have a go.

13:53It just gets in your brain.

13:56It's everything.

13:58Oh, it's just one of them jobs.

13:59Yeah.

14:00It's hard to get out of your system.

14:02Yeah, my dad was a shearer and his two brothers were shearers.

14:07Their father, he came out from Scotland as a blade shearer in the late 1800s.

14:13Then dad just sort of got my brother and I, well, we didn't have any choice.

14:16We just went to work.

14:18I can remember going, leaving home of a Sunday at lunchtime on the back of an old truck.

14:25Everybody climbed on the back of the truck and went to the job.

14:30And you might get home Friday, but a lot of times it'd be the cut out of the shed.

14:34It could be two or three weeks before the truck was coming back.

14:39Luckily, all that sort of thing's gone.

14:42The good old days, the best thing about the good old days, they're gone.

14:49It's a different world.

14:51It's a different life now.

14:53Yeah, completely different.

14:56Is there still a romance about it?

14:58Oh, for sure.

14:59Yeah.

15:00And I don't think that'll ever go.

15:02Yeah.

15:03It's just that thing that you feel at the end of the day, you know, I've done this.

15:14How old are you?

15:1678.

15:19Time to go into retirement.

15:28It's non-stop for two hours, right up until 9.30, when it's time for Smoko.

15:36Get out.

15:37I'm so grateful we got a good cook this year.

15:40I did.

15:41The food is amazing.

15:43You've got pizzas.

15:45You've got toasties.

15:47You've got, um, that in there.

15:51Oh, well, the food's very important.

15:53The cook's the most important person on the place.

15:57So, if we've got good food, everybody's happy.

16:01Jaz the cook is so far holding it together in the kitchen.

16:05Her next mission is to feed this shearing army their lunch.

16:12They reckon this job is the most important on a camp out.

16:17It is, because they have to be fed, because they get five meals a day, so they get-

16:23Five meals?

16:24They get five meals a day, so I'm up at 4.30 every morning.

16:27It's breakfast, Smoko, lunch, afternoon Smoko, dinner, dessert.

16:30But, yeah, it's stressful.

16:32The shopping, oh my gosh.

16:34The shopping.

16:35I used to rouse about, yeah, so I've been in, I'm from Hawke's Bay, New Zealand, and my mum had

16:42a run over there.

16:43So, I was working with her when I was up until 18, and then I moved here about 20 years

16:49ago, and I did it for the first two years.

16:52But I'd rather cook, and it's better money for, because I've got three young kids, so I'm going to fry

16:57the mince into patties.

16:59Right.

16:59Let's get cracking then, huh?

17:03I didn't see you doing a lot of measuring here. Were you just tossing stuff in, because you're so good,

17:08you know what you're doing?

17:09Yeah.

17:09I don't really do measuring.

17:12Just waiting for the oil.

17:21I'm feeling the stress, Jaz.

17:23It's like the clock is ticking.

17:24I know.

17:25It's like 10 minutes now until they're in here, and I haven't cooked one whistle yet.

17:31Man, they'll be having these for dinner at this rate.

17:37It's amazing that it's normally just Jaz at the helm, with a couple of old ovens trying to keep this

17:44shearing team fed and happy.

17:47I have to say, this is the most stressful job I've seen on the farm so far.

17:53Do you wake up in the middle of the night and think, oh my God!

17:56Sometimes I do.

17:57Wake up thinking I've slept in.

17:59Oh!

18:01At 12, the crew break for lunch, which means that at 12.01, they're queuing to be fed.

18:08I've done the burgers.

18:11There you go.

18:12There's some more coming.

18:15Quite enjoying this, actually.

18:20There you go.

18:21Of course, my floundering does nothing to stop Jaz, who completely nails lunch for 21.

18:29It's very important.

18:31You can't work good if you don't eat good.

18:34And how's the food been this time?

18:36Amazing!

18:40The diet has certainly changed a bit since the old days.

18:44When I first started in the sheds, I used to drink cordial.

18:49But I found myself cramping up.

18:52I used to sweat too freely.

18:54I used to take a salt out of my body and that would cause me to cramp.

18:57So, a couple of the shearers, they just want to have some beer.

19:00There's yeast in it.

19:01Like, you know.

19:02It'll stop the cramps.

19:10Feel the power.

19:11Feel the burn.

19:12Feel the burn.

19:13Feel the burn.

19:14Feel the burn.

19:15For some, the diet is even more critical.

19:18Cameron here is part of a crew with Lockie and three others who are training to take on

19:23a shearing world record.

19:26Five shearers, eight hours, and as many merino lambs as they can handle.

19:33Oh, just myself and a few of the other boys.

19:35I think we're just looking for the challenge.

19:36Didn't want to do something different that hasn't been done and put our names on the

19:40line, I suppose.

19:40It's a bit daunting, but we'll see how we go.

19:42We're going to work on power up and then tempo down.

19:45So, power up, twist.

19:47The whole crew is being trained by Josh Clayton, a former record shearer.

19:54Power up.

19:54Ah, so this is where it's all happening.

19:57How's the training going?

19:58It's really helped my shearing of late.

20:00I'm getting through the day a lot easier now.

20:02Yeah.

20:02And feeling a lot stronger for longer.

20:04Okay.

20:04You feeling ready for the record attempt though?

20:07I'm well over halfway into my training now, so things are starting to happen, yeah.

20:12Why do you want to do it?

20:13When you're a record sharer, you're knowing a bit better.

20:17Okay.

20:17And what do you think you're going to do on the day?

20:19What are we looking for?

20:20I'm aiming for 500 personally, but, yeah, that's my personal target.

20:26It is super exciting and, you know, there's five shearers, so they're going to get through

20:30a lot of sheep.

20:31You know, they're probably going to shear around, you know, two, two and a half thousand sheep.

20:36Yeah, that's right.

20:36So, pull it through, so we go down nice and steady, no slack.

20:41Josh will spend nine months working with this crew towards the world record, tuning

20:47these shearers into elite athletes.

20:50He spent years as a shearer before his own life took a sudden change of direction.

20:57So, in 2017, when my life was pretty much how I wanted it, it was good, you know, had

21:05to build a nice house, had a good job, had a beautiful partner of eight years and had

21:11a little girl.

21:12And then, yeah, Stella's mum, Hayley, she was diagnosed with motor neurone disease when

21:17she was 33 and I was 32.

21:23I was competing with shearing at the time and getting ready to do a world record myself

21:28and then Hayley's diagnosis come through, so everything stopped and we just threw all

21:34ourselves and our resources and our family and friends and everyone got behind us and

21:39started going down this big holistical journey to try and slow the MND down.

21:45So, Hayley's family out of the five siblings, Hayley's the youngest, three of them have passed

21:49away from MND.

21:52There is no cure for MND and Hayley died in 2017 when their daughter Stella was just two

22:00years old.

22:01I'm so sorry for you, I can't imagine what that would have been like.

22:05Yeah, it was very challenging, yeah.

22:08I think, you know, with Stella knowing that, you know, she was going to see her daughter grow

22:11up, it would be the hardest thing.

22:13So these lambs are going to be the same size as the ones that are going to shear me back

22:19there.

22:23How did it change your approach to life then?

22:27Yeah, it made me just realise that health is wealth.

22:32It's sort of when everything gets, you know, taken away from you.

22:36I guess it's really, you know, how can you preserve what you have?

22:40Keep your legs all but straight, all straight.

22:42Come down, yeah.

22:43Back.

22:43Josh's holistic journey with Hayley taught him about the power of nutrition when combined

22:49with training, which he tries to focus back into the industry that he loves, running programs

22:56specifically to help competitive shearers.

23:00Being a competitive shearer myself, I can understand, you know, the benefits, you know.

23:04But, you know, I just like seeing people perform at their best.

23:09Stella loves it, you know.

23:10She's been thrown into this shearing world, you know, both feet.

23:14I'd love to see Stella shearing, you know.

23:22Josh's efforts with the team will build on a tradition of shearers trying to set records.

23:31Something that started with being the gun shearer in the shed.

23:36But now the numbers being shown are bigger than ever.

23:44Which brings us to a few months later in a shed near Holbrook in New South Wales at 7am.

23:52Lachie's team of five shearers attempt to set a new world record to see how many Merino lambs

23:59five shearers can shear in eight hours.

24:04A lot of nerves.

24:06Drove down here by myself and I was getting a bit emotional, to be honest.

24:08It's all just finally come together, so, yeah.

24:11It's pretty overwhelming.

24:12We've got to spend over 12 months in the planning.

24:14We're here now, so see how we go.

24:17Yeah, normally you can just roll out a bit and turn up to work

24:19and, you know, it doesn't really matter how many shears, but every second today counts.

24:23We're going to try and make sure that we get as many sheep out as possible.

24:31Three, two, one, go.

24:39They've also raised nearly $15,000 for a charity supporting sick kids

24:44and the local school through this event.

24:47But it's a brutal way to do it.

24:50Their goal is around one Merino lamb per shearer every 60 seconds.

24:57It's a constant, unrelenting effort that takes a mental and physical toll.

25:09It's like a Formula One team.

25:10The shearer's the driver and then you've got, you know, your engineer, your mechanic

25:14and then the guy who's, you know, looking after your nutrition and stuff like that as well.

25:18The support and the help and anything I can out the back for any advice I can give,

25:23which is not much.

25:25Four, two, three, two, three.

25:29I try, three.

25:31Nice.

25:36So it's just a continuous pain barrier that you've got to try and get through

25:40and mentally I'm just, I chose to be here so you just can't let it defeat you.

25:47And they don't.

25:51Because after eight gruelling hours of solid shearing, it's all over.

26:02That gives a grand total of 2-3-0-1.

26:08A new world record is set until the next team brave enough to want to take it on.

26:16I think it's an incredible record that you guys have set.

26:27It's all for the glory because day to day nothing really changes.

26:33Next week they'll be back at it, doing what they do best, without the pressure.

26:39Working with a great team to complete this essential job of shearing a sheep of its fleece.

26:47And that day will probably end as it has for a couple of hundred years at least,

26:53with a few tails around the campfire.

26:58So it turns out the art of shearing hasn't really changed much.

27:02But it's a world away from the old sheds of Banjo Patterson's days.

27:08The workers are faster, the money is better.

27:10It's more welcoming.

27:12Just take a look at the number of women who by all accounts have changed things for the better.

27:16What I've seen is a group of really hard-working people,

27:21still building a life off the sheep's back.

27:24And I can't see that changing anytime soon.

27:30Next time, I'm kicking up my heels.

27:34Pretty good out of the way, the parade's coming.

27:36At one of the biggest Cornish festivals in the world.

27:39I love the Cornish parties, to be honest.

27:41I delve into mysteries of the Copper Coast in South Australia.

27:46Do it, or so, or within us, is praise.

27:50Praise!

27:51And the fight to preserve its Cornish culture.

27:54I reckon you're top of the class.

27:56Oh, yeah, you're just saying that, dude.

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