AUSTRALIA has lost one of its best blade shearers after the death of Leslie "Ben" Wilkie last month.
There are now moves afoot to have Mr Wilkie posthumously admitted to the Shearers Hall of Fame in Hay in NSW.
Mr Wilkie was a seven-time national blade shearing champion and runner-up seven times, in a career that took him across Victoria and the Riverina.
In his eulogy, Skipton district farmer and relative Malcolm Fletcher said Mr Wilkie had applied for a learner's pen at Langi Willi in 1939, where he learned how to blade shear.
Mr Wilkie turned out to be a natural, and went on to blade shear at some of the biggest sheds in the Western District.
He was even given time off to return to shearing while serving in the army during World War II.
Together with brother Murray and cousin Eric, the Wilkie boys established a blade shearing run through the Western District, shearing stud rams.
"There was no doubt, with the skill of these professional men they could make a very normal ram look like a top liner," Mr Fletcher said.
"Ben was a man of pretty small stature and had a huge heart but, at times, he must have found it difficult with these over-fed, huge stud Merino rams.
"In true Ben spirit, he would just get on with his work and do a very clean, efficient job that he would be proud of."
Mr Fletcher said the family would now try to have Mr Wilkie nominated to become part of the Shearers Hall of Fame.
"We hope his amazing record can be recognised," he said.
"Blade shearing is a skill and a gift, and he had both."
