Shearer. Died aged 76.
Robert Benjamin "Bing" Macdonald was firm favourite to win the inaugural Golden Shears competition in Masterton in 1961 until he dislocated his shoulder two weeks before the event. But despite a heavily-strapped shoulder, he went on to finish third.
Macdonald redeemed himself in 1962, and won a
second Golden Shears crown in 1966. He remains one of only six shearers to win the competition more than once.
Macdonald grew up in the Waikato, and learned his trade on farms in the Kawhia area. He established himself as a true "gun" in shearing sheds around the North Island, and his style won him New Zealand championships in 1959 and 1960.
His second victory in the Golden Shears earned him a trip to Britain, where he demonstrated the New Zealand method of shearing to British audiences, including a royal performance for the Queen and Duke of Edinburgh.
Macdonald was one of the first North Islanders to turn contract shearing into a large-scale business, operating gangs as far apart as Taihape and the western bays of Lake Taupo.
He lived the last 15 years of his life at Waihau Bay, northeast of Opotiki, where he enjoyed recreational fishing. Mr Macdonald is survived by three sons and their families.
