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Westfarmers Woolstores
Western Australian farmers formed the Farmers' and Settlers' Association in 1912, which in part, arose from “complaints about farmworkers' wages by the Rural Workers' Union of Australia”. They became active in economic and political arenas, which led to the formation of the Country Party (the early beginnings of the National Party of Australia).
Upon amalgamating with the Producer’s Union in 1914, they rebranded as the Westralian Farmers Limited, “a cooperative to provide services and merchandise to Western Australian farmers”.
Woolstores became wool-selling brokers in 1922, selling 1650 bales in their first year. By 1955, they were selling between 70,000-75,000 bales a year.
Woolstores
In 1955, Westfarmers established a woolstores at Lot 100 Rollinson Road in South Fremantle. At a cost of £350,000 it was a 3,000sqm facility and constructed in consultation with engineer Alan Elmore Raymond Stephenson.
Facilities, such as the woolstores, were historically located much closer to the Fremantle Port but building in South Fremantle meant they could construct much larger storage sheds with good rail access to the port.
Particularly as the wool industry significantly increased throughout the 20th century, there was more of a need for larger, modern purpose-built facilities.
262675PD: Wesfarmers woolstores and Bradford Kendall Ltd, steel founders,
Ocean Drive, South Fremantle in the foreground, 13 August 1969
The Decline
Over time, the need for wool storage declined until June 2000, when the South Fremantle facility became redundant.
Demolition was complete by February 2003, along with many of the remaining industrial buildings of the past era, including ANI Bradken Engineering.
Whilst redevelopment has been a very slow process in the area with many vacant blocks yet to be subdivided for construction, the rise of townhouses and apartments in the suburb continues.
February 2003: Landgate image of what little remains of the Wesfarmers Woolstores bordered in red
Australian Wool Corporation
Established in January 1973, it replaced the Australian Wool Commission, which had formed in November 1970. They were a statutory body backed by the government, with key functions to stabilise and promote the wool industry, a cornerstone of the Australian economy for so long.
One of their key functions was to manage the Australian Wool Reserve Price Scheme (RPS), which existed between 1970 and 1991. This would involve the AWC buying wool when the prices had dropped considerably, creating massive stockpiles of wool which was held in stores around the country. They would later resell it when the market recovered, in order to smooth out price fluctuations for woolgrowers, which protected the industry.
They were responsible for identifying and investigating research and development needs to improve profits, competition and sustainability amongst the Australian wool industry.
Their international promoting and marketing work for Australian wool was vital to the industry, as well as for managing the iconic Woolmark brand.
Changing Times
As a result of the Reserve Price Scheme collapsing in 1991, due to unsustainable debt and a downturn in global demands, the need for woolstores had diminished.
A key purpose of woolstores was a depot for accumulating and sorting wool for shiploading. Times have changed with much of the wool now being baled directly on farms or at local depots, before being loaded into shipping containers for export. This also reduces handling, as previously experienced by labour intensive woolstores.
The AWC underwent several transformations over the years including being replaced by the Australian Wool Research and Promotion Organisation, Australian Wool Innovation (AWI) and The Woolmark Company (the latter which was later acquired by the AWI).
Downsized Export
Between 2024-2025, the industry exported some $2.8 billion of raw wool, with 80% going to China. This is significantly down from 2021-2022 which saw $3.6 billion worth of exports. Sadly, statistics have been falling for quite some time.
10 years ago, 160 million sheep were being shorn every year but now it’s down to about 40-50 million sheep, the lowest levels in 100 years. This can be partly attributed to the economic downturn and cost of living.
259379PD: Wesfarmers buildings South Fremantle 17 Dec. 1965
Westfarmers Today
During a restructure in 1984, Westralian Farmers’ Co-operative Limited formed Wesfarmers Limited, a company in place of a co-operative and listed on the Australian Securities Exchange on November 15.
An interesting but unrelated note from 1991, 19m3 of Westralian Farmers’ Co-operative Limited records was deposited at the J S Battye Library, which is part of the State Library in Perth.
Wesfarmers today have since diversified their portfolio even further, operating in an array of sectors which includes: retail, hotels, pharmaceuticals, chemicals, fertilisers, coal mining and a range of industrial products.
Notable brands they control: Coles Group, Target, Kmart, Bunnings Warehouse, Officeworks and a number of liquor store chains.
With operations not limited to just Australia, they’ve expanded to New Zealand, United Kingdom, Ireland and India.
