- 10 hours ago
Back Roads Season 12 Episode 4
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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,
00:30I'm heading into one of our biggest sheep-shearing hubs,
00:34the city of Wagga Wagga in New South Wales.
00:41It's one job that looks pretty similar to the way it always did,
00:45but I've heard it's actually very different.
00:56So when I first started,
00:57I actually used to get up and do my hair and make-up,
00:59and I'd 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,
01:10so it's the most important time of the year
01:12is to get the shearing done and get it done properly.
01:15A skill that supercharged Australia's early economy
01:19and created a reputation of a tough, hard-living, nomadic lifestyle.
01:25The good old days,
01:26the best thing about the good old days, they're gone.
01:31I'm here to find out what's changed
01:34in a world where many now pursue careers
01:37and some chase world records.
02:04It's just after 7am.
02:06I'm 45 minutes out of Wagga,
02:08meeting 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...
02:35..there's more.
02:36..and 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 ewes.
03:03We have four shearers on the board at the moment
03:05and we have people sorting the wool or rouse about.
03:10There's two of them.
03:11There's a wool class of Brittany
03:12who is sending the wool in different lines
03:16depending on the quality of the wool.
03:17And then there's Michael over there
03:19who's putting the bales out once it's all dressed up.
03:23All the shearers are paid per sheep
03:25and it can quickly add up.
03:28The very best shearers can earn five grand a week.
03:33How long did it take to get good and to be earning big money?
03:37Oh, I think my first day shearing when I was...
03:40I don't know, 15 or 16, I was sure about 60.
03:43So...
03:4460?
03:44Yeah, yeah.
03:45And how many would you do now?
03:46Oh, on a good day now, 350, like, consistently, so...
03:52The technology hasn't really changed that much
03:55since the first merinos arrived in Australia in 1797.
04:01Hand blade shearing very quickly became mechanised.
04:05The combs got a bit wider.
04:07The floor levels were raised in the sheds
04:10to 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
04:29as 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.
04:45Wow.
04:46That is heavy.
04:47And then what are you doing?
04:48So, my job is to class it out.
04:50And what I do is take out all the imperfections
04:53and 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, clothings or suits and all that kind of stuff.
05:07This one's not bound for the catwalk, though.
05:09No.
05:09No.
05:10Definitely not.
05:11No, definitely not.
05:14At the industry's peak in the 1970s,
05:17there 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, away for often months at a time.
05:33It led to a reputation of some hard living.
05:36Some of them make up to 50 or 60 pound a week.
05:40If you're a good kind of a shearer that saves you money,
05:44don't be like some of them, horses and boos.
05:47I've seen fellas terrible hard-working shearers.
05:49They'd run over the top of you to get into the pen
05:51to get a sheep in front of you.
05:53And when you see them a fortnight after shearing, they're broke.
06:03Shearing can still be nomadic,
06:05but nearby Wagga bucks the trend.
06:08It's one of the few places in New South Wales
06:11shearers 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,
06:29who's a shearer, and their son Tama.
06:32But her career path was very nearly
06:34something 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.
06:46So when I first started in the shearing,
06:49I actually used to get up and do my hair and make-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
07:00that Brittany fell into the world of shearing.
07:03After a visit to New Zealand
07:05to spend time with her dad,
07:06who was a shearer.
07:08I was just having a really tough time when I was 17,
07:10and my mum sent me over to New Zealand
07:12to 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
07:20for a couple of days,
07:21and yeah, just 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,
07:36everybody and anybody is from New Zealand somehow
07:39and knows somebody in New Zealand.
07:41It's a lifestyle that I love now.
07:43It's something I've been able to build.
07:45My family around it, I'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.
07:59Even in Wagga, shearing teams still have to travel.
08:02Sometimes.
08:04And in a few days,
08:05Brittany and a crew are heading away for six weeks.
08:10She's helping the camp's cook, Jazz, another Kiwi,
08:14prepare 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.
08:23OK.
08:25Which means working out what they'll need
08:27to feed 21 people for 42 days
08:31with variety and on a budget.
08:34How much coffee have we got?
08:35We've got two 10s.
08:39Throughout the 1900s,
08:41as the shearing teams worked
08:42the length and breadth of Australia following the work,
08:46the shearers would live together on the farms
08:48until the job was done.
08:50And even though Australia no longer rides on the sheep's back,
08:55there 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.
09:22It's the great Australian shearing camp out.
09:27This is Gool Gumbler,
09:29a sheep station two and a half hours west of Wagga.
09:34And 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,
09:49Bruce Rollinson.
09:51So you've had a whole life with sheep, basically.
09:55Yes.
09:55That's right, yeah.
09:57I think I said to my sister,
09:59I said, make sure they don't mention sheep at my funeral.
10:03You've had a whole life with it.
10:04I've had enough, yes.
10:06I 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.
10:24A bit tough to shear.
10:25Yep.
10:25This one will be a bit sick.
10:27Yeah.
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.
10:36If 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 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 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,
11:42it comes alive.
11:50There's not a person in this shed
11:52who 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.
12:03It's what surprised me the most, I think,
12:05the fact that the teamwork is so critical.
12:16How beautiful. 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
12:31is 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,
12:42you've got all different sort of lines to the wool.
12:44So the clasp separates it and I put it into the press.
12:47What's the secret to doing it well?
12:49Just not 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
12:55about 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
13:00and got out and making money at a young age.
13:03What's your dream, Michael?
13:05Be a shearer.
13:06Yeah.
13:07We could eventually get a full-time stand.
13:08For now I've got to do the hard yard
13:09and work my way out.
13:10Yeah.
13:14People do seem drawn to this life,
13:17to the energy of the shed,
13:19to the money.
13:20It's the same passion
13:22that's brought Lockie's dad, Tim,
13:24and his pop, Colin,
13:26both former shearers,
13:27to the shed today.
13:29They came to have a look,
13:30but there is still lanolin under their skin.
13:35This isn't for the cameras.
13:38Lockie's pop, Colin,
13:39is 78
13:40and 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
14:04and his two brothers were shearers.
14:06Their father,
14:08he came out from Scotland
14:09as a blade shearer
14:10in the late 1800s.
14:13Then Dad just sort of got my brother and I,
14:15well, we didn't have any choice.
14:16We just went to work.
14:18I can remember going,
14:21leaving home of a Sunday at lunchtime
14:23on the back of an old truck.
14:25Everybody climbed on the back of the truck
14:27and went to the job
14:30and you might get home Friday,
14:32but a lot of times
14:33it'd be at the cutout of the shed.
14:34It could be two or three weeks
14:36before the truck was coming back.
14:39Luckily, all that sort of thing's gone.
14:42The good old days,
14:43the best thing about the good old days,
14:44they'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
15:05that you feel at the end of the day,
15:07you know,
15:07I've done this.
15:14How old are you?
15:1678.
15:18Time to go into retirement.
15:28It's non-stop for two hours,
15:31right up until 9.30
15:32when it's time for Smoko.
15:37I'm so grateful
15:38we got a good cook this year.
15:40I did.
15:41The food is amazing.
15:42You've got pizzas,
15:45you've got toasties,
15:46you've got fat in there.
15:50Oh, well, the food's very important.
15:53Cook's the most important person
15:54on the place.
15:57So if you've got good food,
15:59everybody's happy.
16:02Jazz the cook is so far
16:03holding it together in the kitchen.
16:05Her next mission
16:06is to feed this shearing army
16:08their lunch.
16:12They reckon this job
16:14is the most important
16:16on a camp out.
16:18It is because
16:18they have to be fed
16:20because they get five meals a day
16:22so they get...
16:23Five meals?
16:24They get five meals a day
16:25so I'm up at 4.30 every morning.
16:27It's breakfast, Smoko,
16:28lunch,
16:28afternoon Smoko,
16:29dinner, dessert.
16:30But yeah, it's stressful.
16:32The shopping,
16:33oh my gosh.
16:34The shopping.
16:35I used to rouse about,
16:36yeah, so I've been in,
16:38I'm from Hawke's Bay,
16:40New Zealand
16:41and my mum had a run over there
16:43so I was working with her
16:45when I was up until 18
16:47and then I moved here
16:48about 20 years ago
16:50and I did it for the first two years.
16:52But I'd rather cook
16:53and it's better money for...
16:54because I've got three young kids
16:55so I'm going to fry the mince
16:58into patties.
16:59Right, let's get cracking then.
17:03I didn't see you doing
17:05a lot of measuring here.
17:06Were you just tossing stuff in
17:07because you're so good
17:08you know what you're doing?
17:09I don't really do measuring.
17:12I was just waiting for the oil.
17:21I'm feeling the stress, Jazz.
17:23It's like the clock is ticking.
17:24I know.
17:25It's like 10 minutes now
17:26until they're in here
17:27and I haven't cooked one whistle yet.
17:31Man, they'll be having these
17:32for dinner at this rate.
17:37It's amazing that it's normally
17:39just Jazz at the helm
17:41with a couple of old ovens
17:43trying to keep this shearing team
17:45fed and happy.
17:47I have to say
17:48this is the most stressful job
17:49I've seen on the farm so far.
17:53Do you wake up in the middle of the night
17:54and think, oh my God!
17:56Sometimes I do.
17:58Wake up thinking I've slept in.
18:00Oh!
18:01At 12, the crew break for lunch
18:04which means that at 12.01
18:06they're queuing to be fed.
18:08I've done the burgers.
18:11There you go.
18:12There's some more coming.
18:15I'm quite enjoying this actually.
18:20Of course, my floundering
18:22does nothing to stop Jazz
18:24who completely nails lunch
18:26for 21.
18:29It's very important.
18:31You can't work good
18:32if you don't eat good.
18:34And how's the food been this time?
18:36Amazing!
18:40The diet has certainly changed
18:42a bit since the old days.
18:44When I first started in the sheds
18:47I used to drink Cordial
18:50but I found myself cramping up.
18:52I used to sweat too freely.
18:54I used to take the salt out of my body
18:56and that would cause me to cramp.
18:58So a couple of the shears
18:59said you just want to have some beer
19:00there's yeast in it
19:01like, you know,
19:02that'll stop the cramps.
19:10Feel the power.
19:11Feel the burn.
19:12Feel the burn.
19:13Feel the burn.
19:14For some
19:15the diet is even more critical.
19:18Cameron here
19:19is part of a crew
19:20with Lachie
19:21and three others
19:21who are training
19:23to take on
19:23a shearing world record.
19:26Five shearers
19:27eight hours
19:28and as many Merino lambs
19:31as they can handle.
19:33I was just myself
19:34and a few
19:34with other boys
19:34I think we're just looking
19:35for the challenge.
19:36Didn't want to do
19:37something different
19:37that hasn't been done
19:38and put our names
19:39on the line I suppose.
19:40It's a bit daunting
19:41but we'll see how we go.
19:42We'll work on
19:43power up
19:44and then tempo down
19:45so power up twist.
19:47The whole crew
19:47is being trained
19:49by Josh Clayton
19:50a former record shearer.
19:53Power up.
19:54So this is where
19:55it's all happening.
19:57How's the training going?
19:58It's really helped
19:59my shearing of late.
20:00I'm getting through
20:00the day a lot easier now
20:02and feeling a lot stronger
20:03for longer.
20:04Okay, you're feeling ready
20:05for the record attempt though?
20:07I'm well over halfway
20:09into my training now
20:10so things are starting
20:11to happen, yeah.
20:12Why do you want to do it?
20:13When you're a record sharer
20:15you're known a bit better.
20:17Okay, and what do you think
20:18you're going to do
20:18on the day?
20:19What are we looking for?
20:20I'm aiming for 500 personally
20:22but yeah,
20:24that's my personal target.
20:26It is super exciting
20:28and you know,
20:29there's five shearers
20:30so they're going to get
20:30through a lot of sheep.
20:31You know,
20:31they're probably going to shear
20:32around, you know,
20:34two, two and a half thousand sheep.
20:36Yeah, that's right.
20:37So pull it through
20:37so we go down nice and steady.
20:39No slack.
20:41Josh will spend
20:43nine months
20:44working with this crew
20:45towards the world record
20:47tuning these shearers
20:48into elite athletes.
20:50He spent years as a shearer
20:52before his own life
20:54took a sudden change
20:55of direction.
20:57So in 2017
20:59when my life was
21:01pretty much
21:02how I wanted it,
21:04it was good,
21:04you know,
21:05had to build a nice house,
21:06had a good job.
21:07Had a beautiful partner
21:09of eight years
21:10and had a little girl
21:12and then, yeah,
21:14Stella's mum, Hayley,
21:15she was diagnosed
21:16with motor neurone disease
21:17when she was 33
21:19and I was 32.
21:23I was competing
21:24with Shearing at the time
21:25and getting ready
21:26to do a world record myself
21:28and then Hayley's diagnosis
21:30come through
21:31so everything stopped
21:32and we just threw
21:34all ourselves
21:35and our resources
21:36and our family
21:36and friends
21:37and everyone got behind us
21:38and started going down
21:40this big holistical journey
21:41to try and slow
21:43the MND down.
21:44So Hayley's family
21:46out of the five siblings,
21:47Hayley's the youngest,
21:49three of them
21:49have passed away
21:50from MND.
21:52There is no cure
21:53for MND
21:54and Hayley died
21:56in 2017
21:57when their daughter
21:59Stella
21:59was just two years old.
22:01I'm so sorry for you.
22:03I can't imagine
22:03what that would have been like.
22:05Yeah.
22:07It was very challenging, yeah.
22:08I think, you know,
22:09with Stella knowing that,
22:10you know,
22:10she was going to see
22:11her daughter grow up
22:11was probably the hardest thing.
22:13So these lambs
22:15are going to be
22:15the same size
22:17as the ones
22:18that are going to
22:18shoot in the back there.
22:23How did it change
22:24your approach
22:25to life then?
22:28Yeah,
22:28it made me
22:29just realise
22:30that health is wealth.
22:32Sort of when everything
22:33gets,
22:34you know,
22:35taken away from you,
22:36I guess it's really,
22:38you know,
22:38how can you preserve
22:39what you have?
22:39Keep your legs
22:40all but straight,
22:41all straight.
22:42Come down,
22:42yeah,
22:43back.
22:43Josh's holistic journey
22:45with Hayley
22:46taught him
22:46about the power
22:47of nutrition
22:48when combined
22:49with training,
22:51which he tries
22:52to focus
22:52back into the industry
22:54that he loves,
22:55running programs
22:56specifically
22:57to help
22:58competitive shearers.
23:00Being a competitive
23:01shearer myself,
23:02I can understand,
23:03you know,
23:04the benefits,
23:04you know,
23:05but I'm,
23:05you know,
23:06I just like seeing
23:07people perform
23:08at their best.
23:09Stella loves it,
23:10you know,
23:10she's been thrown
23:12into this shearing world,
23:13you know,
23:13both feet.
23:14I'd love to see
23:15Stella shearing,
23:16you know.
23:22Josh's efforts
23:23with the team
23:24will build
23:25on a tradition
23:26of shearers
23:27trying to set records.
23:31Something that started
23:33with being
23:34the gun shearer
23:35in the shed.
23:36But now,
23:38the numbers being
23:38shorn
23:39are bigger
23:40than ever.
23:44Which brings us
23:45to a few months
23:46later
23:47in a shed
23:47near Holbrook
23:48in New South Wales
23:49at 7am.
23:52Lockie's team
23:52of five shearers
23:54attempt to set
23:55a new world record
23:56to see how many
23:58Merino lambs
23:59five shearers
24:00can shear
24:01in eight hours.
24:05A lot of nerves.
24:06Drove down here
24:06by myself
24:07and I was getting
24:07a bit emotional
24:08to be honest.
24:08It's all just
24:08finally come together
24:09so, yeah.
24:11It's pretty overwhelming
24:12to be honest.
24:12It's been over 12 months
24:13in the planning.
24:14We're here now
24:15so see how we go.
24:17Yeah, normally
24:17you can just roll out of bed
24:18and turn up to work
24:19and it doesn't really
24:20matter how many
24:20you shear
24:21but every second
24:22until they count
24:23so we're going to try
24:24and make sure
24:24that we get
24:25as many sheep
24:25out as possible.
24:31Three,
24:32two,
24:33one,
24:34go.
24:39They've also raised
24:40nearly $15,000
24:41for a charity
24:43supporting sick kids
24:44and the local school
24:46through this event.
24:47But it's a brutal way
24:50to do it.
24:50Their goal
24:51is around
24:52one merino lamb
24:53per shearer
24:54every 60 seconds.
24:57It's a constant
24:59unrelenting effort
25:00that takes a mental
25:02and physical toll.
25:09It's like a Formula One team.
25:10The shearer's the driver
25:11and then you've got
25:12your engineer,
25:14your mechanic
25:14and then the guy
25:15who's looking after
25:16your nutrition
25:17and stuff like that
25:17as well.
25:18To support
25:19and to help
25:19and anything I can
25:21out the back
25:21or any advice
25:22I can give
25:23which is not much.
25:25Four, two,
25:27three,
25:31three,
25:32three,
25:32three,
25:34three,
25:36So it's just a
25:37continuous pain
25:38barrier
25:39you've got to try
25:39and get through
25:40and mentally
25:41I chose to be here
25:43so you just can't
25:43let it defeat you.
25:48And they don't.
25:52Because after
25:53eight gruelling hours
25:54of solid shearing
25:56it's all over.
26:02It gives a grand total
26:03of
26:05two,
26:05three,
26:06oh,
26:06one.
26:08A new world record
26:10is set
26:12until the next team
26:14brave enough
26:15to want to take it on.
26:16I think it's
26:17an incredible record
26:18that you guys have set.
26:27It's all for the glory
26:29because
26:30day to day
26:31nothing really changes.
26:33Next week
26:34they'll be back at it
26:35doing what they do best
26:37without the pressure.
26:39Working with a great team
26:41to complete
26:42this essential job
26:43of shearing
26:45a sheep
26:46of its fleece.
26:47And that day
26:48will probably end
26:49as it has
26:50for a couple
26:51of hundred years
26:52at least
26:53with a few
26:54tails around
26:55the campfire.
26:58So it turns out
26:59the art of shearing
27:00hasn't really
27:01changed much
27:02but it's a world
27:03away
27:04from the old
27:05sheds of Banjo
27:06Patterson's days.
27:08The workers are faster,
27:09the money is better.
27:10It's more welcoming.
27:12Just take a look
27:12at the number of women
27:13who by all accounts
27:15have changed things
27:16for the better.
27:17What I've seen
27:18is a group
27:19of really
27:20hard-working people
27:21still building
27:22a life
27:23off the sheep's back
27:24and I can't see
27:25that changing
27:26any time soon.
27:30next time
27:31I'm kicking up my heels
27:33I'm going to get out of the way
27:35the parade's coming
27:35at one of the biggest
27:37Cornish festivals
27:38in the world
27:39I love the Cornish
27:40policies
27:40to be honest
27:41I delve into
27:43mysteries of the
27:43Copper Coast
27:44in South Australia
27:45Do it
27:47or throw
27:47a winner
27:48is praise
27:49praise
27:50and the fight
27:51to preserve
27:52its Cornish culture
27:54I reckon
27:54you're top of the class
27:56aww
27:57hey uh
27:57you just
27:58sign that dude
28:01You
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