In early March, right before Australians were ordered into lockdown, Broderick Pavier was working at the Moomba Festival in Melbourne, which regularly attracts up to one million people.
His family had just finished up at Moomba and arrived in NSW to prepare for another show when the government ordered residents to “stay at home”.
The Pavier family normally spends 40 weeks on the road each year. Broderick says the lockdown meant he was unable to work for more than 15 weeks.
“It was a complete disaster. All the sudden you just stopped doing what you normally do. The transition is very tough mentally. It’s a very difficult situation,” Broderick said.
The family suffered a massive financial blow after the Sydney Royal Easter Show was cancelled, which Broderick describes as the “premier event of the year.”
Broderick says his million-dollar rides have been sitting in the shed for three months at his property on NSW’s Central Coast.
After restrictions eased, Broderick was able to access JobKeeper and operate small rides and a Ferris wheel at The Entrance. But he says things are still far from normal.
“The government has been fantastic. JobKeeper is a great incentive. But as far as to get the wolf away from the door, it didn’t do a great deal when you still have all your insurances and outgoings and everything else,” he told The Feed.
Broderick claims he’s tried to organise some smaller events to keep his business going but has been knocked back by several local councils.
Brod Pavier has been working in the show business for all his life. Source: The Feed
“The premier keeps telling everybody ‘get out there and try and do the best you can and do everything in a safe procedure’,” he said.
“I’ve put in plans for everything, sanitising and cleaning, social distancing and so on and so forth. But the negativity [by councils] has not been welcoming,” he added.
The Federal Government has allocated $36 million to support agricultural show societies around Australia. But Brod says the government has “forgotten about the showmen”.
COVID-19 has dealt a huge blow to the show business. Source: The Feed
“We’re the heart and souls of the show business that support the shows every year and turn up with the rides, the games, the fairyfloss and the Dagwood dogs,” he said.
“But we have been left out and have received no grants.”
Broderick says he’s trying to negotiate a reduction on his truck registration and public liability insurance, as he’s currently required to purchase an expensive form of coverage that deals with $20 million worth of incidents.
According to the 65-year-old, it’s his first time he’s received any form of financial support from the government.
“I've paid tax all my life and I’ve never received one benefit from the government ever. All the sudden, this year, I’ve got a thing called JobKeeper, thank heaven for that but I would rather try to go out and earn a living,” he said.
Broderick’s daughter Brooke, who’s also in the show business, is currently working in Brisbane. While Queensland has fewer restrictions than other states, she’s unable to travel to Adelaide and NSW, like she normally would for work.
Brooke Pavier is a showwoman currently based in Queensland. Source: The Feed
Brooke gave birth on March 14 and says the past few months have been “a bit crazy”.
“We still have our insurance payments and ride payments and house payments. It was all ‘what do we do, where is the money going to come from?’. Mentally, it was quite draining,” she told The Feed.
“Being a mother-of-three and invested heavily into the business, honestly, I don't know what I would do [if I couldn’t do shows].”
Making the change to mainstream schooling
Normally, Brooke’s children would be taught by travelling teachers inside semi-trailer schools on the show grounds. But due to the pandemic, she’s had to put one of her kids into mainstream schooling.
Brooke says on the show grounds, “there’d be different mates to play with each afternoon” but now there are hardly any kids about.
“Kids need kids. That’s why we chose for my son to go into a mainstream school; for that interaction,” she said.
She told The Feed while she and her husband are able to put on smaller shows, she misses bigger events and “bringing entertainment to kids” and all the things “that bring smiles to everyone’s faces”.
Brooke says she also feels for people who’ve failed to put on events in regional areas.
“80 per cent of the shows is the rides. It’s always the drawcard for an agricultural show,” she said.
“I think for regional areas that haven’t had anything come to their town, it would be the hugest thing and bring a bit of happiness to people,” she added.
“There’s no reason they can’t do it in a safe way. Having a little show operating at a smaller scale can work and it has worked up here in Queensland.”
