Sure, being elected to Federal Parliament was great, and it's a real honour to represent the good people of Charlton, north of Sydney, but for Greg Combet, last year's federal election also entailed a not so minor "tragedy".
"That's what it was," Combet says. "I mean, it's the tragedy of my working life that I had to leave my birds behind."
Combet, 50, who was elected last November, has at one stage or another owned parrots, peacocks, pheasants, canaries, chooks, lovebirds and cockatiels, but finches have captured his heart. Not just any finch, mind you, but Erythrura gouldiae , or the Gouldian finch. Also known as Lady Gouldians or rainbow finches, these are some of Australia's most spectacular birds, a flying canvas of electric blue and lemony yellow, with a purple breast and vibrant rump, the kind of creature a preschooler would draw given half an hour and a packet of crayons.
"They are a constant in my life," Combet says. "At various times I didn't have birds because I was moving around share houses but I always come back to them."
Combet, now working as the Federal Government's parliamentary secretary for defence procurement, became best known for his time at the top of the ACTU, first as assistant secretary, then secretary from 2000 to 2007. Hawkish yet urbane, a class warrior in Clark Kent glasses, Combet helped co-ordinate some of the most bruising battles in Australian industrial relations history, from the 1998 waterfront dispute to the struggle to secure entitlements and compensation for James Hardie asbestos victims and staff of the late Ansett airlines. And always, behind it all, were Combet's Gouldians.
"In the most stressful moments of my life, the birds have provided a total counterpoint to everything else. Waterfront and James Hardie were incredibly tense times, so it was very relaxing for me to go out the back and be with my birds, just to feed them and clean the aviary and make sure they were OK."
There is also the challenge of breeding them.
"They are very difficult to breed. They have a distinct breeding season, in summer, so you have to get conditions absolutely right. If there is too much draught or their diet is not right or the aviary is not in good condition they will not breed."
Some years he would have no success; others he might produce 30 birds in one season, some of which he would sell to pet shops. "You don't get much money from it, maybe $40 for a bird. But Gouldians are endangered, so I like to ensure I am doing my bit to protect the species."
Combet loves the birds for their extravagant beauty and ability to fly, "which is a pretty good thing, when you think about it". But his unusual upbringing also played a part. The younger of two children, Combet grew up in Rooty Hill, on Penfold's Minchinbury Estate, where his father worked as a manager and champagne maker. Space was never a problem - Combet would set up goal posts in the winery and play football with his schoolmates - allowing ample room for an aviary.
"My father was always interested in birds. We kept 40 chooks and sold the eggs to the local market gardener. We also had pigeons, and I used to breed them. Dad and I would then drive into Parramatta to sell them to the pet shops."
Next came peacocks, which Combet also bred, and finches, about 14 or 15 varieties, local and foreign. By the age of nine Combet had "pretty much taken over from my dad on the bird side of things".
But then, when Combet was just 13, his father died of cancer.
"The birds have always been an important connection to my dad, given I lost him when I was quite young. I think of him often, especially when I'm with the birds. I feel like it's a part of him that I can hold onto, a way of holding onto those good memories."
After last year's federal election Combet moved from Melbourne to Newcastle, leaving his birds in the process. "I am also away in Canberra and interstate, and I've been busy trying to come to terms with the defence portfolio, so I haven't been able to get settled."
In the meantime he must satisfy himself with birdwatching in the Hunter Region Botanic Gardens, north of Newcastle. "I live near the coast, too, so I see lots of sea eagles. And there are lots of parrots in Canberra, I guess."
But nothing compares to Gouldians. "I have plans for getting an aviary together," he says with relish.
"It's just a matter of time."
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