This is a follow-up to the previous piece about the shortage of shearers.
The numbers of Australian-based shearers have diminished by 30 per cent in the last decade, partly due to the drought, the pull of the mining sector, and Covid 19 restricting arrivals. New Zealand shearers also had a pay rise in 2018.
In May 2023, at the end of the earlier editorial, the hope was expressed that the shortage would be relieved by progress with the Pacific Australia Labour Mobility scheme (PALM). Provision had been made for a pilot round of a small number to be trained as shearers in southern New South Wales.
That plan will not now go ahead. Contractors have deemed this intention to bring in Pacific workers and train them as untenable. This is due to changes in the deeding guidelines for the PALM scheme. Workers will be required to be guaranteed 30 hours of work a week, regardless of work halts because of weather or other factors.
The industry has decided, as a better option, to target wool-growing countries, with a view to providing a merino acclimatisation program for shearers who may be used to shearing other breeds.
Particularly is this so for New Zealand shearers, who are skilled in cross-bred wools.
But then there is the prospect of the United Kingdom, where there are 30 million sheep. They are mostly of breeds other than the merino.
The intention is to have a training school designed for those in the industry who wish to come to Australia because, if they are under 30 years of age, they are free to come under the normal visas.
Many of those UK shearers go to New Zealand in the off-season, and they are accustomed to shearing cross-bred sheep. The Australian season lasts a lot longer than in the United Kingdom.
The other countries which would be of interest include South Africa, Argentina, and even Mongolia.
The Shearing Contractors Association of Australia also points out that it recommends pay rates 15 per cent above the award rate of $3.67 per head. In fact, in the more remote areas, the rate has gone closer to $5 a head
The challenge is to make sure that shearers have employment for more than 45 working weeks per year.
This article appeared in The Buloke Times, 25 August 2023.
