AWI chairman Jock Laurie revealed the proposal, which he stressed was in the very early concept stages, during a Federal Senate Estimates hearings last week.
He has since told the Pastoral Times the AWI still need to ‘‘get a level of detail’’ to understand if, when and how such a proposal can be delivered.
‘‘At this stage it is a proposal we are looking at, because we need to find ways to train and address the shearer shortages,’’ he said.
‘‘We need to engage in this pace, but ideas and design work is still to be done.
‘‘We need to pull the proposal together, but Falkiner is already owned by the wool industry and it certainly makes sense (as a location).
‘‘It is a facility we have that needs to be utilised, and shearing is definitely one area that needs more investment.’’
Speaking to the Rural and Regional Affairs and Transport Legislation Committee on February 15, Mr Laurie said demand and desire for wool is still strong.
International markets and an overseas workforce have been the shortfalls, as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
‘‘The wool price and wool market at the moment are coming along quite well post-COVID,’’ Mr Laurie said in Senate Estimates.
‘‘We are starting to see economies open up and we’re starting to see demand coming from around the world. One thing that is creating problems is obviously transportation internationally. We all understand there have been major issues there.
‘‘The pipeline is getting longer and longer and creating issues for people internationally. We understand that. But there is reasonably good, strong demand for wool at the moment. Especially at the fine and superfine end, there is good pressure, and for other wools there is still quite a bit of strong demand.
‘‘Of the issues at the moment, one, without any doubt, is shearing labour in general.
‘‘It hasn’t become a terribly attractive industry in a lot of ways. I think people have found other, easier ways to make a bob.
‘‘But there is a lot of work going on at AWI at the moment investing in shearer training across Australia.’’
Mr Laurie said there has already been some work and investment in getting shearers trained and on the job faster, and he said a dedicated training centre could further aid in the process.
‘‘Just recently, we have been down and had a look at shearing platforms (at Falkiner Memorial Field Station) again to see whether we can find a way to utilise those,’’ he told the hearing.
‘‘We are thinking about developing a research centre down there that could highlight some of the new technology that is happening in the shearing industry. We are potentially doing some of our training down there.
‘‘We still have to do some work but we think that might be a way forward.’’
But Mr Laurie warned that even with platforms going, you still need to get people operating them.
‘‘One of the labour options — I know the government has been strongly supportive of the Pacific Islander scheme — is to get Pacific Islanders over here and get them trained up and working in the field.
‘‘We have contractors who are ready to engage and support those people, bring them on team and look after them.
‘‘The blokes I know were talking about Fijian shearers and New Zealand shearers to actually understand what is required and what support is required for those people when they come to Australia.
‘‘That would be a very big step forward if we can get that going to get Pacific Islanders out here and train them potentially both on platform shearing and traditional shearing.’’
When pressed by Nationals Senator Perin Davey, who lives in Conargo and has an office in Deniliquin, Mr Laurie said provided safety can be maintained, Falkiner would be an ideal spot for their plans.
‘‘More development work needs to be done, and we feel that we probably need to get that into our own hands and then work away at it,’’ he said in the hearing.
‘‘The first thing is, if we’re promoting any of it, it has to be safe. We've got to be confident in ourselves that the technique is safe and that from the work health and safety aspect we’re not actually doing anything to create issues.
‘‘Over the next few months we’ll be looking to develop that; it’s not developed at the moment.
‘‘There’s also accommodation there which provides us with an opportunity to provide accommodation for people who'll be trained in this area, potentially normal shearer training but also potentially training people on shearing platforms if they turn out to be a very good option for the industry.
‘‘We are right in the process now of seriously considering that.
‘‘They’re going back there to have another look to make sure we feel the facility is up to speed, and then we can look at what investment we can do there.’’
