Page 33 - The Outdoor Showman JAN-MAR 2020

RODEO NEWS
Circus Royale
Circus Royale was at Dingley Dell, Melbourne, mid-February.
Damien Syred’s Sister production,
the Chinese Circus Spectacular,
was at Berwick, south-East Melbourne, to better-than-average business.
Infamous
‘Infamous’ had holidays for most of January, with Pepe and Michele Ashton flying back to Perth for son Merrick’s engagement party and to catch up with Mervyn and Nikki at the Ashton farm at Beverley,WA.
Infamous opened just before Australia Day for five well-patronised weeks at Helensvale, northern Gold Coast. Word of mouth means expanding crowds wherever they show.
Hudson Circus
Hudsons Circus was bushfire-affected when it opened at Springfield, east
of Ipswich, Qld, in early January, but business picked up progressively. Shane and Nancy Lennon then planned a short run around south-east Qld.
But the fires and floods made that problematic, so they bounced back into Brisbane for a short run before they head ‘over the Top’: Darwin, The Alice, Broome, down the Coast to Perth for the holidays. Shane knows this country well; he took Burton’s there in the nineties, and LA Carnival, even before that.
Honour
Thirty years ‘performing and administering Circus Oz and Albury’s Flying Fruit Fly Circus by Annie Davey (pictured below) culminated in an Australia Day honour, the second for an Oz personality.
First was founder Tim Coldwell.
Submission to NSW Government on performing animals
As a Justice of the Peace NSW for more than 41 years, now retired,
I wish to record my support for the existing regulatory and performance control regime.
It is already regarded as the most stringent and effective in the world,
and has originated many of the safety and performance systems that have become standard in many countries.
Over a period of more than half a century, I have inspected most of the presentations of performing animals in Australia, and in several developed and developing countries, and ours compare more than favourably with any overseas ones.
Relevant researchers have confirmed that Australian exhibitors use only positive reinforcement - the same method every primary-school teacher uses in the classroom to teach reading, writing and maths.
As you may be aware, several urbanised countries subsidise the visits of performing exotic animals, as a potent means of discouraging anti-social behaviour among younger society members. Crime rates go down, when youngsters are positively engaged and diverted.
Australian Circuses have not asked for this, although many overseas governments say their experiences confirm that they are economically justified.
You may also be aware that the very survival of some genera of animals depends on control groups, of which mobile exhibitions fulfil an integral role in education and genetic dissemination.
It needs pointing out that children and adults find this type of instruction both enlightening and fun. More enjoyable, at all levels (and therefore much more effective), than any other type of education this field.
It is the only form of relevant live instruction available in most non- metropolitan areas of this State, a situation that only partly remedies the cultural deprivation of people in these areas. There appears to be no advantage, and significant further deprivation, in the proposed regime.
Its unexpected consequences clearly discriminate against country children. “Experience teacheth more than instruction”. (Attributed to Aristotle)
In view of all this, I wish to record my opposition to the un-necessary and economically-discouraging provisions of the regime currently under consideration.
By John MacDonnell
Hudson Lennon
Lifetime Achievement Award
Robert and Bernice Perry receiving a lifetime Achievement award
in circus at the Australian Circus Festival in Brisbane Nov 2019.
Frank Gasser / Lorraine & Gary Grant also received this award. Congratulations to you all!
THE OUTDOOR SHOWMAN 31