Adelaide Show has just finished and the big move to Melbourne is under way with a very difficult time frame.

A four day gap between big events is very limiting and places enormous pressure on the crews to bump out, travel 700kms and erect in time to open. This is an issue that must be addressed next year and we hope the royal shows will work together to achieve this outcome.

Although attendances were slightly down at the Adelaide Show, spending was up and most operators reported a good show. The slight drop on attendance figures can be attributed to the horse flu and no horse competitors.

We must also give thanks to the RAS SA team for their efforts over the last 12 months to help achieve a good working relationship with SafeWork SA. John Rothwell, Grant Piggott and Judith Noble have put in many hours behind the scenes with Ian Marcos from Safework SA. Ian and his team must also be congratulated for their efforts and the national audit scheme that they are now using. Audits appeared to run smoothly and the friendly co operative attitude of the inspectors has paid dividends. There was not one prohibition notice issued. I do hope this system will flow on to other states. Interestingly the states are communicating with each other and Queensland passed on the results of notices and information to South Australia.

Adelaide Show runs without an independent safety consultant overseeing the audits and this runs very smoothly. The amusement operators work at around 40 events each year and only have an independent safety officer at two events. Yet these events seem to have more problems than all others put together.

Maybe the safety officers are creating a job for themselves. In this day and age we are professional operators whom many have achieved accreditation and manage to operate throughout the year without anyone looking over our shoulder I tend to think we should be recognised for the standard of operation we achieve week in and week out.

The contrast between this year and last year is huge and everybody should be congratulated for the great outcomes that have been achieved.

Adelaide Show is truly one of the great shows, it has the best looking carnival midway I have seen with an impressive line up of attractions and a great range of displays and entertainment and yet still maintains a significant rural element. Now with the new development underway and the exciting new plans we can’t wait to see the result for next year. It is pleasing to see the Federal Government’s recognition of the contribution by the Adelaide Show to the community and economy in providing a significant grant towards the new building.

With a significant reduction in the number of rides at Royal Melbourne, this has left a large number of top quality attractions to roam the country shows, this will place the owners of these rides under stress as they need the large shows as part of their business plan and cash flow for the year.

The Small Business Skills workshops (An Australian Government-funded initiative under the Building Entrepreneurship in Small Business program) developing well with some exciting key business modules so make sure you keep your eye out for announcements on dates and locations so don’t miss out!

The rural shows fire up in October and things are looking greatly improved with recent rains so let’s hope these are signs of a recovery. I read recently that the rural areas will be looking for around 50,000 workers to fill the vacancies. This is a massive lift for the country as that means 50,000 families will have another income. Let’s just hope that the rains keep coming.

Phil Durkin

Chair, Transportables