At a woolshed in central Victoria, one of the greats of Australian shearing is busily at work.<\/p>\n
John Harris is on the wool table, inspecting and “skirting” every newly shorn fleece spread out for sorting and grading.<\/p>\n
His hands move quickly and constantly.<\/p>\n
With four shearers toiling away, the pace is fast.\u00a0<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
John Harris (third from left) was one of six champion shearers chosen in the 1960s to instruct the industry about a new way of shearing. (Supplied)<\/p>\n
John would much rather be on the shearing “board” alongside them, the trade in which he made his name.<\/p>\n
“I’ve been fortunate. I think I’ve won six Australians [national shearing championships] and seven state titles probably and numerous other ones, of course,” John said.<\/p>\n
Until recently, he was still shearing up to 140 sheep a day in woolsheds around northern Victoria.<\/p>\n
But at age 85, time has finally caught up to him.<\/p>\n
A lifelong bond built in the shed<\/p>\n
Though one habit will be harder to break: his annual visit to the Fraser family’s property at Glengower, near Clunes.<\/p>\n
Every spring for 75 years, the Harris and Fraser families have met at the historic stone woolshed.<\/p>\n
It’s a tradition that began in 1950, when John’s father, Bill Harris, arrived with his shearing team to shear George Fraser’s sheep.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
John Harris (left) and Robert Fraser’s family connections go back 70 years. (ABC Landline: Tim Lee)<\/p>\n
John succeeded his father, taking over the contract in the early 1980s.<\/p>\n
He and the current owner, Robert Fraser, were both born in 1940 and met when they were 15 years old.<\/p>\n
This annual reunion, amid the noise of the shearing shed, had this pair of octogenarians retelling old stories and reliving old memories.<\/p>\n
“Times have changed but they haven’t got a better idea of getting it [the wool] off them yet,” John reflected.<\/p>\n
Robert Fraser said, “They’ve always been good teams [with] plenty of harmony. Like any team, they’ve got to work together.<\/p>\n
“They ate good food, they looked after themselves, and they were good, clean-living chaps in the team.”<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
John Harris reflecting on 70 years of working in woolsheds. (ABC Landline: Tim Lee)<\/p>\n
Conversely, John is full of praise for Robert’s sheep, widely known for their fine wool and for his prime lambs that top the market.<\/p>\n
“Look at the presentation on his sheep. He’s a very good operator,” John said.<\/p>\n
“You know it’s exactly the same as the year before and the year before that. Everything’s done right. There’s a bit of respect on both sides over all that time.”<\/p>\n
The fast hands of a shearing legend<\/p>\n
John Harris is still shearing at age 85.\u00a0 (ABC Landline: Peter Healy)<\/p>\n
In the annals of Australian shearing, few can match John Harris.<\/p>\n
In 2009, he was inducted into the Australian Shearers’ Hall of Fame. His father, shearer and contractor Bill Harris, was posthumously inducted in 2019.<\/p>\n
John learnt to shear under Bill’s guidance and exacting standards, developing a technique that was relaxed in style but tremendously fast.<\/p>\n
In the early 1960s, the young shearer was already a “gun”, easily removing the wool from 200 or more woolly merinos a day.<\/p>\n
The big pay cheques enabled John to indulge in his love of fast cars, most notably a bold red Porsche.<\/p>\n
“Dad walked into a luxury car showroom in Melbourne, and when he said he wanted to buy the car, the salesman looked at him contemptuously,” said John’s son, Tim Harris.<\/p>\n
“His expression quickly changed when Dad pulled \u00a33,500 pounds [about $7,000] in cash from his back pocket.”<\/p>\n
John made quite a splash when he rolled up in the Porsche at a woolshed, often in outback Queensland.<\/p>\n
In his early 20s, he was selected as one of six shearing instructors by the Australian Wool Board to roll out a new, efficient shearing method known as Tally-Hi across Australia.<\/p>\n
“[It was] a new technique, which they wanted to ratify in the industry to try and make efficiencies work, alongside [shearers such as] Kevin Sarre and John Allan \u2026 legends in the industry,” Tim Harris said.<\/p>\n
John’s territory was Queensland, which at the time had an estimated 40 million sheep.<\/p>\n
For most of his career, he shore about 30,000 sheep a year and wrote himself into the history books.<\/p>\n
As a contractor, his shearing teams shore up to half a million sheep a year.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Shearer Jedda Walker came from Western Australia to mark the milestone. (ABC Landline: Tim Lee)<\/p>\n
Jedda Walker, formerly of Euroa, was taught to shear by Bill and John Harris 46 years ago.<\/p>\n
That’s why he drove from Western Australia to take part in this 75th anniversary shearing.<\/p>\n
Mr Walker describes John Harris as having an “aura” about him.<\/p>\n
“The thing that really stood out to me was that he never seemed to rush. And for as long as I can remember, he has always looked fit and he has looked after himself, unlike a lot of us \u2014 me included,” Mr Walker said.<\/p>\n
Breaking convention in the shearing shed<\/p>\n
In an industry often impeded by tradition, John Harris embraced innovation.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
A young John Harris shearing in the 1970s. (Supplied)<\/p>\n
In the early 1980s, he was among the first to employ New Zealand shearers and shearing teams.<\/p>\n
And, notably, to employ women \u2014 both as shearers and roustabouts in the woolshed, traditionally an all-male domain.<\/p>\n
“The Kiwis brought their best shearers in, and they brought their wives and girlfriends because they’re terrific roustabouts,” John said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
“Women have got a lot better feel for wool and they’re very quick, they like the job and they’re good at the job.”<\/p>\n
Sheep can be frustrating, and the heat and toil of a woolshed can be testing.<\/p>\n
John Harris’s advice to any shearer is to never lose your cool.<\/p>\n
“The main thing about temperament is there’s one of you and there’s thousands of them. [So] they’re going to win, aren’t they?<\/p>\n
“Every one is a fresh one. And you’re not!”<\/p>\n