Well-known satirist John Clarke and veteran crooner Barry Crocker have added their voices to Cancer Council’s Get Behind Bowel Screening campaign.
Clarke and Crocker generously donated their time to record Community Service Announcements for the campaign, which will be broadcast on radio stations throughout Australia from August.
The Announcements urge Australians to head to the Get Behind Bowel Screening campaign website and send an auto-generated email to their MP, urging them to roll out the full National Bowel Cancer Screening Program. www.getbehindbowelscreening.com.au
Crocker and Clarke lent their voices pro bono to the campaign, contributing their talents to the same project for the first time since the 1972 film The Adventures of Barry McKenzie, in which Crocker played the lead and Clarke was an extra.
Comedian and satirist Clarke is well known for his character Fred Dagg, for his appearances in The Games, The Gillies Report, and his weekly mock political TV interviews on ABC’s 7.30 Report with Bryan Dawe. He has won numerous awards and was inducted into the Logie Hall of Fame in 2008.
Singer and actor Barry Crocker AM sang the original theme song for Neighbours, has appeared in movies such as Muriel’s Wedding and Razzle Dazzle, and numerous theatrical shows including a two-year tour with Fiddler on the Roof starring Topol. One of the greats of the Australian entertainment industry, he has won a Gold Logie and many other awards.
“Cancer has affected many people in my family, in particular my mother,” said Crocker. “I was happy to lend a hand – and my voice – to this campaign.”
John Clarke brings his unique ‘Clarkesque’ approach to the project, injecting humour into the difficult topic of bowel cancer. “Bowel cancer particularly affects people over 50,” said Clarke. “I thought - that’s me! I wanted to make other people think, ‘That’s me’, to make them go to the campaign website.”
The community-based Cancer Council advocacy campaign has already motivated more than 11,000 Australians to email their MPs calling for expansion of the National Bowel Cancer Screening Program, amid new research showing 93 per cent of bowel cancer patients can survive if diagnosed early.
Cancer Council Australia Chief Executive Officer, Professor Ian Olver, said there was a stark gap between what was achievable in bowel cancer detection and current survival outcomes in Australia.
“Australia’s bowel cancer screening program needs to go from one-off screening for people turning 50, 55 and 65 to two-yearly screening of everyone over 50, in order to realise its full potential to prevent deaths.”
MEDIA CONTACTS
Lesley Branagan 0439 827 781 lesley.branagan@cancer.org.au
Rebecca Cook 03 9635 5207 rebecca.cook@cancervic.org.au