WA legends Peter Black and Damien Boyle inducted into Shearing Hall of Fame

Two exceptionally talented WA sheep industry stalwarts have been inducted into the Australian Shearing Hall of Fame, both highly acclaimed for their contribution in lifting the standards of wool harvesting excellence. Peter Black and Damien Boyle were named recipients of this prestigious accolade, along with NSW’s inductees Brian Sullivan, Peter Orcher and Alan Williams, at the Hall of Fame induction ceremony at Shear Outback in Hay, NSW, on October 5. Mr Black was born in New Zealand in 1951 — his mother was from the Hawke’s Bay region and his father was an Australian Serviceman. Recognised as a young man with potential, Mr Black moved to Queensland in the late 1970s “to take up shearing opportunities” before settling in Esperance, where he built up his status as a legend during the 1980s for his work ethic. He could shear more than 400 ewes in a day. Mr Black expanded into a shearing supply business, assisting many shearers with their gear while passing on his knowledge and experience. He was a trainer at first with the Australian Wool Corporation and from 1992 to 1995 he was responsible for setting the national shearing pattern, gear preparation and maintenance. In 1996 Mr Black formed his own registered training organisation and won tenders in WA to administer training for TAFE and WADOT. In 1998 he built the world’s first shearing website shearingworld.com and developed a shearing software program in 2001. Mr Black also developed a shearing injury management program to partner the payroll system, which assisted in lowering workers’ compensation premiums for employers. His company, Shearing Industry Consultants, assisted insurers with independent expert advice and his company was also the independent auditor for Wesfarmers “Fibre Direct”. In 1997 Mr Black administered the first official world shearing record in Australia and has been instrumental in organising more than 20 world record attempts (1992-2022). He served as a world shearing records referee for 20 years and managed and coached the Australian shearing and wool handling team at three World Championships, which yielded three world titles. His most recent achievement has been assisting with the design and supplying content for the shearing training app LOJIK. The app, jointly operated by Mr Black and his son Dwayne, was designed as both a training tool and an historical resource, with much rare footage of early shearing and interviews of many experienced shearers of their time. Mr Boyle was born in 1976 on his parents Don and Jan Boyle’s Broomehill farm, where they continue to run Merino sheep. His claim to fame has been in competitive shearing, winning 25 Perth Royal Show Open titles with legendary status in shearing clean. He advocates the importance that every learner shearer be taught the correct basics to lift industry standards and build a competent shedhand workforce that woolgrowers can rely on. Mr Boyle began shearing at 16 and was taught by his father. He has shorn in every State of Australia and in New Zealand, Ireland, Wales and England. Recently, Mr Boyle was treated for non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma but continues to shear competitively with great success. He will represent WA at the Sports Shear’s National Shearing Competition in Katanning on Sunday, October 27.