RESPECTED Indigenous head trainer at Merriman Shearing School Ian 'Boof' Bateman tries to encourage his students to leave their local area to find work.
The shearing contractor said a lot of the students that came through the school in Brewarrina, NSW, had "levy bank syndrome", where they won't leave a 60-kilometre radius of where they live.
Mr Bateman has worked in shearing sheds since he was 14. He and wife Kathleen had two children by the time they were 17, hence, he said, there is no "mollycoddling" of students in his workplace.
Mr Bateman doesn't care if people are "black, white or brindle" because he believes anyone can make a go of it if they have the right work ethic.
"We have about a 75 per cent retention rate in the shearing and wool handling workforce from graduates of the school, but I don't expect them to all stay in the industry, but if I can at least teach them to get out of bed and go to work, whatever it may be - even packing shelves - we have achieved something."
Crossing the ditch
Mr Bateman was so impressed by the skills of graduates of the latest Merriman Shearing School that he lined up work for them with contractors across Australia and New Zealand.
Fifteen-year-old Patrick Demaine from Lightening Ridge and Josh Johnson, 19, from Coonabarabran - who can each shear 10 to 13 sheep an hour - will head to New Zealand once their passports arrive to join shearing season through to September.
When they land they will attend a four-day course in shearing crossbred sheep and then they will hit the board.
Success story
Former Goodooga resident Hank Boney, 23, is one of the many success stories of the Merriman Shearing School.
It took a bit of persistence from Mr Bateman to get Hank onboard, and then even more persistence to venture out of his local area for work.
Two years on, Hank now lives at Wagga Wagga and is part of the Duggan Shearing team; in fact, his start with the team was as presser, but within four days he got a stand.
Hank's been on the stand full-time for six months and can now shear 120 sheep a day, although he's the first to admit he was a handful when he was younger and was "a bit lippy".
He had a few jobs after he completed year 12, including working as a station hand and at Fletchers International abattoir at Dubbo, before he started at Merriman Shearing School.
Hank's back in the Brewarrina district with the Bateman Shearing team until shearing fires-up again in the Riverina in September.
Hank said shearing had taught him the true value of earning a dollar.
"I hold onto my money now - it's good coin shearing but hard work to earn it."
He's now is saving up to buy a house at Wagga Wagga.
Hank's also keen to learn blade shearing and eventually he would like to be a shearer-trainer at the Merriman Shearing School.
