Machinery Excellence Award: Angus Newcombe wins for FY26 consistency

Angus Newcombe, owner director of Country Auctions in Tamworth, has won the AuctionsPlus Machinery Excellence Award for FY26, after listing 2,256 machinery lots on the platform over the past 12 months.Mr Newcombe has owned Country Auctions for the past 12 years, running a mix of physical and online sales from Tamworth. He said online sales through AuctionsPlus now made up a major part of the business, working alongside the agency's on-site auctions, and that the platform had become part of Country Auctions' operations since COVID.

Machinery sold through Country Auctions has reached buyers well beyond the Tamworth region. Mr Newcombe said the agency did strong business across southern Queensland, western and central New South Wales, and into Victoria, with recent sales including steel, cattle yards and water tanks reaching as far as Shepparton and Tasmania.

Consistency has been the standout for the agency rather than any single high-value lot. Mr Newcombe said clearance rates typically sat around 90%, which he considered one of Country Auctions' biggest strengths.

"Our clearance rate is probably one of the biggest consistency things that we're involved in," he said.

Country Auctions holds its online sale on the last Sunday of each month, a schedule Mr Newcombe said had built a loyal following of repeat buyers over time. He said one of the most enjoyable parts of the job was the number of people he got to talk to across the east coast, even without meeting most of them in person.

Mr Newcombe also lists cattle and sheep through Newcombe Livestock & Property.

AuctionsPlus CEO Wyn Snyman congratulated Mr Newcombe on the award.

"Congratulations to Angus for winning the AuctionsPlus Machinery Excellence Award. Regular Country Auctions catalogues have become a part of the furniture at AuctionsPlus, and Angus's consistency and clearance rates set a real benchmark for machinery agents on the platform," Mr Snyman said.

AuctionsPlus Awards FY26 Winners:

Top Throughput Cattle Assessor: Darryl Napper

Top Throughput Sheep Assessor: Kelvin Donnan

Top Throughput Cattle Agency and Top Throughput Combined Livestock Agency: Davidson Cameron & Co

Top Throughput Sheep Agency: Spence Dix & Co Keith

Top Throughput Machinery Agency: Phillips Livestock & Auctions

Howard Gardner Award: Trevor Basset

Gary Dick Award: James Tierney

Young Gun Award: Charlie Bible

Industry Woman of the Year: Sam Platts

Machinery Excellence Award: Angus Newcombe