Bombala’s Annie loves life on the land

STRENGTH, perseverance, and optimism feature strongly in the stories from the 2023 ABC Heywire winners, and Bombala’s own Annie Green is amongst them.

Hundreds of Australians aged 16 to 22 from regional, rural and remote areas entered the Heywire competition by speaking openly and candidly about life beyond our major cities, through written stories, photos, videos or audio recordings.

Bombala High School Year student, Annie Green’s story is about working in the shearing sheds of the local area.

While her win was announced late last year, the ABC released the video of her story just recently, and congratulations have flowed in on social media.

The video opens with scenes of Bombala before showing Annie in the thick of working in the shearing shed, as well as learning in the Bombala High School classroom.

Many other locals can be spotted in the footage, particularly Bob Kimber and those in his shearing crew at the time, and Annie hopes her journey inspires more young women to step into the sheds.

Heywire winners share individual stories specific to their lived experience of the place they call home, and this is Annie’s:

Heywire winner Annie — Bombala, NSW, Ngarigo Country

“Our sheds are always full of noise. There’s never a dull moment.

I’ve lived my whole life in

Bombala. We rely heavily on the wool industry. I don’t knit or crochet, I wouldn’t know how.

I play my part by working as a rouseabout for a local shearing contractor. I work a lot for Bob’s crew, he’s been a contractor for 40 years. He’s a great boss.

I keep the board clean for the shearers and sort wool.

My job involves throwing and skirting fleeces for the wool classer. That means when the wool is on the table, I make my way around the fleece and take off the edges if it’s ratty.

Then the wool classer decides where the wool needs to go based on its colour, or length. It all gets baled up and sold and used for different things.

Some of the fleeces are pretty heavy, I reckon I’ve become stronger doing this job.

Work in the sheds is hard and the pace is fast, but I really enjoy the challenge.

The classroom feels like a different world from the sheds.

Sometimes I have to say no to work, so I can catch up on a few things at school. It can be hard to balance.

There are about 13 kids left in my year 11 class. People started working — in the wool industry, in fencing, spraying, or tree planting.

I feel like the real Annie is the one who works in the sheds.

I feel confident at work because I know exactly what I need to do and my whole team is working hard around me, all working together.

I like being a rouseabout, I enjoy it and it’s good money. After school, I’d like to work towards a career in the wool industry and could see myself taking on a certificate in wool classing.

I hope more young women feel confident to give working in the sheds a shot.

I’m happy being a rouseabout. I can move around, see different places, work with different people as they come and go, and spend time outside in the place I love.”

You can read the fresh perspectives of young people from right across regional, rural and remote Australia here at www.abc.net.au/heywire/ winners/ or view Annie’s video on any of the ABC online platforms.