Brian Parry AM

When Brian Parry joined the Royal Agricultural Society of Victoria (RASV) in 1981, he came from a management background, not one of agriculture. He became Executive Director after seeing the position advertised in the newspaper. He loved the Royal Melbourne Show and thought RASV looked to be a pretty exciting institution from the outside, so it was a job he thought worth trying. As he recalls: ‘All of these things came together, and it was worth a trial to at least be interviewed’.

Brian was Executive Director from 1981 until 1986 and during that period he tried to initiate changes that helped RASV become more financially stable. It was challenging and he faced resistance on some ideas from the Council and individuals. One successful initiative Brian introduced was a theme for each annual Royal Melbourne Show. As he recalls:

The first one was ‘See Victoria at the Show’, and we had all sorts of Victorian [era] things … There was chess, there were tiddly-winks, croquet … and people from those clubs came and demonstrated their skills and played against the public. That was hugely popular, and I was really proud of that.

For the second theme, Brian introduced the concept of a guest nation and Japan was chosen as the represented country. The Show included all sorts of Japanese features including a tea house, Taiko drummers, arts and crafts as well as Japanese officials and members of the community. It was one of the most interesting and entertaining shows in a number of years and attendance numbers reflected this. Despite the success, the Council’s reaction to this change was resoundingly negative and the enthusiasm for themed shows waned.

Brian continued to make suggestions for ways in which RASV and the Show could become more financially viable with mixed success. In 1986 he was offered a role as President of the Metropolitan Fire Brigade Board and so made the decision to leave RASV. Looking back at this time, Brian reflects that it was challenging, but overwhelmingly positive. ‘I actually enjoyed the challenge, I even enjoyed some of the obstructions in a funny way. I enjoyed the camaraderie of a small group of people [and] I enjoyed the Show.’