General News
30 July, 2022
Gordon Fischer: A life on the road
HORSHAM Regional Livestock Exchange (HRLE) recently farewelled Gordon Fischer who announced his resignation from the HRLE board.
HORSHAM Regional Livestock Exchange (HRLE) recently farewelled Gordon Fischer who announced his resignation from the HRLE board.
The announcement followed his decision to retire from full-time work after dedicating his life to Horsham’s livestock and transport industry.
Mr Fischer said his introduction to livestock came as early as he could remember, having grown up on his family’s farm just outside of Taylor’s Lake.
It would be a passion that would remain over the course of his lifetime, recalling some of his fondest memories in the Horsham livestock sales yards.
“My love for the livestock sales yards came about when I was a child, and I would go to the cattle markets in Horsham with my grandfather,” Mr Fischer said.
“In those days we had a ring selling cattle. They would sell cattle in a ring with many people seated.
"The sound and noise of that will be something I will remember for the rest of my life. It was just a fantastic atmosphere.”
In 1966, Mr Fischer left school to work with his father before his family would undergo one of the area’s worst droughts the year after.
It was during this time Mr Fischer took on his first job in transport driving a truck for a neighbouring farmer for additional income.
“Because of the drought my family bought some more land. Times were tough but everyone remained very positive. There was no gloom in those days,” he said.
“My first transport job was carting grain from Horsham to Sydney and back. I was paid $60.
“I bought my first truck in 1974. It was a V8 petrol truck which ran three miles to the gallon back when a gallon of petrol cost 45 cents, which is roughly 10 cents a litre.
“Owning my first truck was a life achievement at the time. It was the start of my venture into doing business in transport and what I continued to do until I retired.”
Mr Fischer would use the contacts he had made in the livestock industry to help start his work as a freight carrier.
Reflecting on his career in the freight industry, Mr Fischer said communication was the area which had changed the most in the industry.
“At one time if you saw someone else on the road you’d acknowledge them with a hand signal,” he said.
“Then we had UHF radios and that was an enormous step. The fax machine was the next biggest change. We could get instructions delivered to roadhouses around the country.
"Then mobile phones came, that was the greatest improvement.
“We used to have to stop at phone booths along the street. Sometimes it was hard to get to a park driving a truck. Then some booths were vandalised and weren’t working. Other times we didn’t have coins.”
Mr Fischer eventually joined the HRLE as a board member in 2002 but had shared significant history with the group prior.
He would take part in what can be considered the HRLE’s most significant change, having its location moved from the centre of Horsham to its current location.
“I knew the facility had a limited life with it being situated in the centre of town. It was not the best of facilities. Trucks would block streets as they loaded and unloaded livestock,” Mr Fischer said.
“The plans to relocate the old livestock exchange out of Horsham happened around 1997. The late Bernie Dunn called a meeting in which he invited all stakeholders of the livestock exchange - carriers, stock agents, farmers, councillors and so forth.
“I was extremely keen to be a part of that, also, because if we didn’t move the yards we wouldn’t end up having yards.”
With his expertise in freight, Mr Fischer would go on to help guide the HRLE with ongoing operations and developments such as the arranging of facility ramps for loading and unloading trucks.
Since retirement, Mr Fischer still works as a casual livestock carrier every Wednesday and remains thankful to all those who had contributed to the management of Horsham’s livestock saleyards.
“In 1970, when the sheep sale was finished, we had 2000 sheep left on a Friday morning in the centre of Horsham that we had to walk to leased paddocks in Haven," he said.
"That was a very big task. With the new sale yards we have paddocks on-site where the stock that were sold can stay.
“The board of management for Horsham’s local sale yards is made up of a diverse range of people who all provide a different interest in the sector. It’s because of that we’re running probably one of the best livestock exchange facilities in Australia.
“Retirement, in general, has been a little hard to get used to because I’ve worked all my life. I found it hard to sleep at night at first because I was used to starting work early and working all night with long hours. But now it’s become more enjoyable.”