New ASWS chief Sue Opie looking forward to making show 'bigger and better'

The new chief executive of the Australian Sheep & Wool Show is looking forward to making the largest sheep event in the country "bigger and better".

Bendigo woman Sue Opie will take the reins from outgoing chief executive Margot Falconer on September 19 after 10 years in charge.

Ms Opie told Stock & Land she was "totally excited" to get stuck in and bring the show to the next level.

"I'm excited to really get my fingers dirty and find out as much as I can about the sheep industry in the next couple of months," she said.

"Hopefully, I'll be able to put all of my skills and knowledge from previous areas combined to make the show next year even bigger and better, and continue that over the next couple of years."

After working abroad for 20 years, Ms Opie spent 14 years working with the Bendigo Advertiser in sales and marketing.

From there, she was most recently commercial manager at the Bendigo Jockey Club for eight years.

Like her predecessor, Ms Opie does not come from a farming background.

However, she said this would be an advantage.

"The sheep industry is something which I haven't worked with before," she said.

"Prior to getting this job, I worked for eight years in the racing industry, and that was a similar type of industry which I didn't know much about before I started either.

"I think I can come in and look at things with different eyes in some ways."

Ms Opie said this was often how an event like the ASWS could evolve, by bringing in outside thinking.

"That's what I'm hoping to do," she said.

However, she said Ms Falconer had done an amazing job, particularly on improving the profitability of the event, and she wanted to continue this work.

"I've certainly taken on everything Margot has done," she said.

"The way she's grown this show over the last 10 years has been unbelievable, and I certainly want to continue in the same direction.

"But I'm also looking forward to seeing how we can evolve in the future."

She attended the ASWS in July, and she couldn't believe its scale.

"I thought the show was great and I could not believe there were so many moving parts," she said.

"As a local Bendigo person, I will admit I had been before, but I did not realise at the time that there were so many moving parts to it."

She said the Festival of Lamb, wool competitions, dog trials and the myriad of sheep breeds on display were some of the show's highlights.

"I took in so much that weekend that I'm still going through it in my head," she said.

"I think it's a fabulous show and Bendigo is lucky to have it."

Ms Opie felt her commercial sales and marketing background would be one of her strongest skillsets when leading the ASWS.

"Working at the Bendigo Advertiser, I learned a lot about advertising and sales, and I like to think that I can contribute all the knowledge I learned there, and also developed through my Bendigo Jockey Club career," she said.

In this way, she said she planned to make the ASWS a "much more profitable show than what it has been", in line with what Ms Falconer had done.

Ms Opie said her knowledge of regional towns would also be a strength when working with the farming community.

"I've got a great understanding of what regional towns are like," she said.

"I know they're not farming areas, but these regional towns wouldn't exist without farms.

"I know through working in advertising with different businesses through the years, the farmers coming to town are so important to keep these towns going."

Ms Opie had a little over a fortnight before Ms Falconer bid farewell after shadowing her for the past few weeks.

"After that, it'll be hands on deck and I'm really looking forward to it," Ms Opie said.

The 2026 ASWS will take place from July 17-19 next year and she said it would be full steam ahead until then.