Mystery auctioneer ‘Donald’ takes the room – it’s amazing.

A TRUMP card was played when the Michael Manion Wool Industry Foundation enlisted mystery auctioneer Len Tenace to conduct a special auction in Melbourne yesterday.

At the AWH National Wool Selling Centre in Brooklyn yesterday, Len donned his ‘Donald Trump’ persona, and with the help of co-operating brokers, exporters and traders gave a most excellent performance to raise $85,745.

The real Len Tenace. From this…

The senior wool buyer and trader with Segard Masurel as a bewigged Donald entered the room with a flourish to the applause of his loyal supporters.

…. to this, Donald triumphs.

“Wow look at this, this is amazing, amazing, I see that my good friend Scot Morrison (aka Segard Masurel CEO Ian Bowden) is here – ScoMo ScoMo.

“It’s great – another victim of a stolen election, terrible, a total disaster, terrible situation, terrible,” Donald said.

“It is truly a great honour for you to have me here today.

“I’ve been getting tremendous crowds everywhere I go and today’s no exception here in Brooklyn,” he said.

“My Secret Service details told that there are over one thousand people in this room and another one thousand outside in the freezing cold and rain, it’s fantastic, spectacular.

“Everybody loves me, you love me, I love me, amazing, amazing,” Donald said.

“The mainstream media, terrible, will tell that there is less than 100 people here, it’s fake news.

“I’m so happy to be speaking to you and to let you know that everything you buy from me today will fantastic, terrific, incredible.

“Everybody knows that I made the wool trade great, I made the wool trade great again, I made it better than great, I made it spectacular,” he said.

“Today we will make the wool trade huge, by raising an amazing amount of money for the incredible Michael Manion Wool Industry Foundation, an amazing charity run by some good friends of mine, great people, really good people, the best of the best.

“I just want to mention a few things, if you read or hear things that are nice to me or good, it’s real news, if it’s mean or nasty it’s fake news,” he said.

Donald kept bidding moving at the charity auction.

After less than 15 minutes of spirited bidding, and a myriad of in-house jibes, including Donald’s assurance that a 26 micron lot was ‘Merino’, 17 lots were sold for a total of $85,745.

Wool donors included Ackroyd & Dadswell, Australian Merino Direct, Australian Wool Handlers, Australian Wool Network, BYVG Wool Brokers, Dynon Wools, Elders, Endeavour Wool Exports, Fox & Lillie Rural, Grampian Wools, Karee Wool, Michell Direct, Nutrien, Qualiity Wool, Saunders Wool, Segard Masurel, Spearwood Wool, Techwool, Wool Solutions and NZ Merino.

Buyers, with Donald’s comments, included United Wool, Modiano, Endeavour Wool Exports, KareeWool, Techwool Trading, Sentdale – “Skunkdale” –, Australian Merino Exports or AME – “also an insurance company”, Fox & Lillie, Segard Masurel, Vitale Barberis Canonico  or VBC – “a beer company”, Watswool and Victorian Wool Processors.

“Thank you very much gentleman, you’ve been amazing.

“I just need 64,504 votes, but now we’ve got some dollars, that’s great,” Donald said.

“It’s an amazing result, incredible, amazing, incredibly amazing, amazingly incredible, the wool trade is great again, it’s huuge!”

Michael Manion Wool Industry Foundation chairman Ken Stock.

MMWIF chairman Ken Stock said since 2015-16 the foundation has raised $354,541.82 and disbursed $240,833.12, not including $27,000 recently raised for the Royal Melbourne Childrens Hospital.

He thanked the brokers, traders and exporters for their support in donating the wool for the auction.

“Without you we wouldn’t be able to do what we do on a daily basis.”

Mr Stock said the proceeds of two of the lots – about $3800 — would go toward the establishment of the Jacinta Beetson All Women’s Shearing School, established in honour of car accident victim Jacinta ‘Cinny’ Beetson.

Jacinta Beetson’s passion for shearing will live on with MMWIF support, in the shearing school established in her name.