The Hon Greg Combet AM MP

Minister for Defence Personnel, Materiel and Science

Minister Assisting the Minister for Climate Change

Federal Member for the electorate of Charlton

Visit Greg's website

Greg Combet grew up in Western Sydney and worked as a trades assistant, in coal mining, and in a range of community organisations. He has university degrees in mining engineering and economics, and a graduate diploma in labour relations and the law. He joined the Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) in 1993 and was leader of the ACTU from 1999 to 2007. In his work at the ACTU, he oversaw numerous national wage cases to secure pay rises for low-paid Australian workers. He was also instrumental in recovering the entitlements of Ansett workers, and achieving compensation for asbestos victims. His role in the 1998 waterfront dispute was depicted recently in the television drama Bastard Boys. Greg was awarded the Order of Australia in 2006. He was elected to the Federal Parliament as the member for Charlton in 2007. After initially serving in the Defence portfolio, he was appointed Parliamentary Secretary for Climate Change in February 2009. Greg enjoys a high national profile, and is well- known as a Gouldian Finch breeder in Australia. He is keen to make a contribution to ensure the survival of the Gouldian in the wild for others to enjoy.

Greg’s interest in finches developed from a very early age. During his formative years he and his father kept and bred a variety of bird species, including some of the more common finches, at Penfold’s Minchinbury Estate where his father worked as a winemaker. He decided to specialise in breeding Gouldian Finches about 15 years ago when he realised that they had become endangered in the wild. Over the years his colony-based breeding efforts with Gouldians have been broadly successful, given the challenge over the years of the Melbourne climate! He found that an appropriate diet, protection from draughts, access to good light, and watchful nurturing are essential elements to the successful breeding of this species. As well as appreciating their intrinsic beauty, Greg gains tremendous pleasure from spending time with his birds. Now, having relocated to the Hunter Region in New South Wales, he is planning to re-establish his Gouldian breeding hobby in a more suitable climate!

Peter Rindom

Denmark

Peter (and his wife Birgitte) live in Stroeby Egede, 50km south of Copenhagen, where he works in the field of sales, marketing and purchasing

Peter’s interest in finches began when he was 10 years old with the keeping of Zebra Finches and canaries in a small cage. He soon converted his father’s greenhouse to an aviary. Since then he has kept many African and Australian finch species. For the past 10-15 years he has specialized in breeding Parrot Finches: Red-faced, Blue-faced, Pin-tailed, Mount Katanglad, Peales and Tri-colored. He has visited the South Pacific islands to see these beautiful birds in the wild. In 1999 he visited the Kimberleys and heard from Mike Fidler about a “new” place called Mornington, and the Gouldian Finches that could be seen there. Peter gave an undertaking to publicise the plight of the wild Gouldian in Europe. He currently distributes STGF articles and information to some 10-15 European countries for publication!  “I must admit that it became a little bigger than I thought it would be……so it was just natural for me to join the Save The Gouldian Fund when it started.”

Peter is the STGF Communications Officer in Denmark, co-ordinating the distribution of media releases and fund raising activities throughout many European countries.

Joerg Landenberger

Germany

Visit Joerg's website

Joerg was destined to be a bird breeder, as his father (Ulrich) had bred canaries, siskins and softbills for over 30 years. Not surprisingly, Joerg initially developed an interest in keeping and breeding the same bird species before progressing to the exotic Australian and African finches and some of the European softbills. Joerg and his father are keen exhibitors, attending many of the top bird shows in Germany. In 2005 Joerg came to Australia to attend the Queensland Finch Conference and during his stay he visited the Kimberleys with Mike and Elisabeth Fidler. Here, for the first time, he saw the Gouldian Finch in its natural habitat. Impressed with the huge effort put in to improve the status of the Gouldian, Joerg decided to get involved in the Save the Gouldian project. Upon returning to Germany, Joerg began translating finch articles for publication in bird magazines. Together with a friend, Peter Rindom from Denmark, they started contacting people interested in helping threatened bird species and providing funds for research and habitat improvement in Australia.

Joerg is the STGF Communications Officer in Germany, co-ordinating the distribution of media releases and fund raising activities throughout many parts of Europe.

Bill Van Patten

Murfreesboro, Tennessee
USA

Bill worked as a Systems Integration Manager at the Ford Motor Company, but now runs a commercial aviary – Fabulous Finch

Bill’s interest in birds started when he was 10 years old, with a homemade incubator and two fertile chicken eggs from the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry. From here he graduated to keeping pheasants, parakeets, cockatiels and finally finches. He fell in love with Gouldian finches after seeing them in a pet store and decided to take on the challenge of keeping them. Nearly 40 years later, his continued interest in Gouldian finches turned professional and he started his own commercial aviary establishment specialising in breeding Gouldians. Part of his definition of success is to be able to give something back to the wild Gouldian. He wants to bring attention to the fact that Gouldians are endangered and to remind people of their beauty in nature. Fabulous Finch generously donates a portion of their sales to STGF, and Bill recently visited Australia to gain first hand knowledge of the plight of the wild Gouldian so that he can better communicate the activities of the STGF to aviculturists in the USA.

Bill serves as the STGF Communications Officer in the USA, co-ordinating the distribution of media releases and fund raising activities.

John Butler

Hunter Valley, NSW
Australia

John worked in the Hunter Valley coalmines driving heavy machinery until injury forced him into early retirement

John is our first aviculturist to be featured and needs little introduction as his reputation as one of the most experienced and successful finch breeders in Australia precedes him. John has a long history with breeding birds that started as a teenager over 50 years ago. One of the highlights of his avicultural career occurred during the 1983-1984 breeding season when he bred 84 Green Strawberry Finches (Green Avadavats), 56 Golden Song Sparrows and 36 Grenadier Weavers - an amazing record! He currently breeds a variety of exotic and Australian native finch species and has a special interest in increasing the numbers of Green Strawberry Finches and Orange-cheeked Waxbills to safe levels in Australian aviaries. As a young boy John vividly remembers visiting local bird dealers to purchase wild-caught Gouldian finches. He also sadly recalls the very high mortality rate of these wild birds in captivity. He hopes that by getting involved with STGF he can give a little back to the birds in the wild.

John has been involved with STGF since its inception and has been instrumental in organising and managing our annual Open Days.