Breaking the sheep’s back. Charles Massy. 2011.

Once a great nation-building icon, the wool business today is but a third of its size when Australia ‘rode on the sheep’s back’. Compared to the more recent Australian Wheat Board scandal, 40 times more funds were lost in the l, and vastly more collateral social and economic damage was done in this country and across the globe.

This story is a tragedy that reaches into the offices of prime ministers and Cabinet members across several federal governments and its agencies. Despite this politically sanctioned collapse, there has never been a royal commission. Until now, no one has investigated what precipitated the great crash of February 1991 or the industry’s ongoing decline.