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House of Assembly - Fifty-Fifth Parliament, First Session (55-1)
2024-03-21 Daily Xml
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Wray, Mr D.

Mr McBRIDE (MacKillop) (15:12): I rise today to acknowledge and pay tribute to former Naracoorte resident, founder of MiniJumbuk, visionary and devoted advocate for Limestone Coast, Mr Don Wray. Don passed away at 72 on 25 October 2023. I also acknowledge Don's wife, Denise; Darren Turner, the Managing Director of MiniJumbuk; Brett Woods, the CEO; and John Finnis, board member, who are all here in the chamber today.

Don was remembered at a memorial service in the Naracoorte Town Hall late last year. Hundreds attended to celebrate the life of not only a father, devoted husband, friend to many and hard worker but a generous visionary and true entrepreneur. Don established MiniJumbuk, a manufacturing and retail business that is committed to regional South Australia and enjoys national and international success.

Born on 27 October 1950, Don left school at 16 to become a shearer. As well as being a gun shearer, he earned a reputation for being a great bloke with a keen sense of humour and a cheeky smile. The early mornings and long days in various sheds enabled him to develop a passion for wool and its quality as a fibre, but in the 1970s, and while aged only in his 20s, Don suffered a severe back injury at work and spent a month in hospital. The news from his doctors was serious: he would end up in a wheelchair before turning 40 if he did not make a career change.

At the time, Naracoorte's Isobel Miles had established MiniJumbuk. She would use wool to make mini sheep for tourists. These were to be sold at the town's visitor information centre, as it had no locally made products. Later, they were to become prized purchases available at royal shows. Don took up her offer to buy a share in the company and soon after bought the entire business for $35,000.

Don surrounded himself with a team that developed ideas into reality, and many of that team still work with MiniJumbuk today. He applied his understanding of the cooling and warming properties of wool to experiment, and subsequently design, the world's first commercially sold woollen quilt. This was initially under licence for Onkaparinga wool and later under the MiniJumbuk brand.

This little company that had been making and selling woollen mini sheep and underblankets was on its way to a meteoric rise. With a lot of hard work, passion and many sleepless nights, year by year the company grew into today's international success story. Some innovative marketing, including training five rams to walk a modelling catwalk, and taking sheep into shopping centres, brought a little bit of country to the city.

By the 1980s, a national sales network was well established. In the early 1990s, the company managed to work through some turbulent times and potential insolvency. Despite these tough times, it continued to grow and move forward. In 2019, an online partnership was established with Myer, resulting in MiniJumbuk packing and shipping over 20,000 orders per year. During COVID, when others were struggling to secure products from overseas, MiniJumbuk was able to capitalise, reaffirming the importance and value of locally manufacturing using local materials.

MiniJumbuk now has around 50 staff and is celebrating 40 years of business. It is still the same management team and board it started with in 1976. The company has purchased two new quilting machines and makes around 3,000 quilted products per week, plus pillows. This manufacturing is still occurring in Naracoorte, a testament to Don's commitment to regional South Australia. The MiniJumbuk group of companies is now the biggest single user of Australian wool, and has a turnover of around $30 million. This is a true success story.

Don was renowned for his kindness and support, and was forever advocating for the South-East. He sponsored and donated goods to many groups, clubs and committees within our community. One of Don's most generous legacies was MiniJumbuk's participation in the Dollars 4 Doonas campaign. This was born out of the tragedy of Victoria's 2009 Black Saturday fires, where countless families lost homes and livelihoods.

MiniJumbuk, through the Dollars 4 Doonas project, helped raise in excess of $30,000 and was able to donate over 600 quilts and a thousand pillows to fire-ravaged communities. When South Australia suffered losses in fires that burnt through the Adelaide Hills, Kangaroo Island and closer to home, here in Keilara, MiniJumbuk again answered the call. The company donated up to a thousand quilts and 2,000 pillows to support victims of these fires, providing quality wool bedding packages to individuals and families who had lost their homes. That was Don's way. He never hesitated to help where he could.

Don enjoyed horseracing and was recently honoured for his outstanding contribution to the industry. At this year's Naracoorte Cup, the Naracoorte Racing Club named its committee room after him. As a long-term friend, Darren Turner said:

Don was loyal and generous, he was also a mate, visionary, and pillar of strength for colleagues, customers, and suppliers.

Don is survived by his wife Denise, stepdaughter Amber and children Andrew and Emily. His unmatched kindness has left an enduring impression on all who encountered him. Don will be sadly missed, but his legacy lives on. Vale Don Wray.

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