ANBC History

Mr. Ron Hunt has prepared the History of the ANBC up to 2008 and Leigh Downey has continued with this task, until it was recently taken over by Neale Love. The ANBC is grateful to these gentlemen for enabling this summary of their work to be published, capturing the rich history of the ANBC.

1964
In 1964 at Griffith in NSW a group of Budgerigar Fanciers from Victoria, N.S.W. and South Australia held a meeting during The Griffith Cage Bird Societies Annual Show.  The result of this meeting gave birth to the idea of conducting a National Teams Competition for Budgerigars. 

1972
Dr. Harold Cooper from N.S.W. (Now Tasmania) started talking seriously about a Teams Competition with The Late Frank Gardener in Victoria.  These two fanciers brought in Harry Eady and Evan Stafford from Victoria, Ron Hunt from N.S.W. and George Duffield from South Australia to help create interest within The Fancy. 

These early discussions became a reality when Harry Eady in 1974 convinced The BCA (now BCV) to host a Teams Competition. 

1975
At Kensington, a suburb of Melbourne, the first Teams Competition was held.  Victoria, N.S.W. and South Australia competed with Victoria winning this first competition, now held annually.  Western Australia joined the Competition in 1978, North Queensland in 1979, South Queensland in 1980 and Tasmania in 1983. 

1981
The necessity to have a controlling body to set the rules for this competition was now imperative.  A steering committee made up from the competing teams met during the competition held in Perth W. A.  The delegates were, Alan Marshall and Ron MacNamara from Victoria, Brian West and Amon Murdock from Queensland, Bruce Bradford, Kevin Kelly and Col Morgan N.S.W., Don Geary ACT, George Duffield and Stan Watson South Australia and Willie Schoeman Western Australia.  The ground rules were established, a decision to hold the first ANBC official meeting in 1982 at Townsville and Mr Brian West was elected as the first ANBC Secretary. 

1985
The National Colour & Standard Committee was formed to establish a National Standard to be used at the ANBC championship show.  Colin Morgan N.S.W., Harry Eady Victoria and George Duffield South Australia worked on this task.  Brian West joined the committee in 1987 to aid in the printing.  This committee published the new standard in 1990, member bodies having the choice of using this standard or their own state standards. 

1988
The ANBC approves the design for a National Show Cage.  The new cage to be used at the ANBC championship show 1989 hosted by North and Central Queensland at The Iwsaki Resort in Yeppoon. 

1989
The ground rules for a National Judges Panel & Examining Committee were presented to the ANBC. 

1990
The first judge’s examining panel made up of Harry Eady, Victoria, Ron Hunt N.S.W., Harold Cooper Tasmania, Brian West North Queensland and Barney Hackney from South Queensland.  The first show to be judged by nationally qualified judges would be hosted by South Queensland in 1992. 

 Important ground rules set by this committee and approved by The ANBC were: 

1. This committee would have no jurisdiction over judges’ panels from the member bodies. 
2. No ruling committee to be elected. 
3. The only position elected would be the chair person to conduct The National Meeting and a Co-ordinator to distribute minutes. 
4. This committee is in place to examine candidates to qualify to be able to judge ANBC championship shows. 
5. To deal with matters pertaining to the judging of The ANBC Championship Show. 

1991
National Standard approved and printed. The official secretaries position be held by one person for no more than three consecutive years.

1992
A.N.B.C. Delegates meeting changed to the Monday after the National competition. A seven-year variable class to be introduced. A Spangle Double Factored standard to be added. The Budgerigar Society of the UK. Muted a formation of a W.B.O. being formed. 

 1993
A national show cage drawing and description be made available to all zones and included in the next printing of the Standard. National Magazine muted but not proceeded with.  Formulation of National Show Guidelines and documented.

1994
W.B.O. Report by G. Al-Nasser the U.K. representative including fee structure, voting rights,  and what would the A.N.B.C. gain. Voted on and rejected.  Green / Greygreen, Blue / Grey to be separate from 1999 and onwards. Reason; losing the green and Blue varieties.

1995
Three 1,800 long holding cages plus one lockable Aviary per zone team at every National Competition. Host Zone to select Officiating Judges according to A.N.B.C. requirements. Standard Logies per variety winner muted.

1996
National Exhibitor Status to be considered. Target 2000 for the introduction of a common set of Show rules. Brian West an original founding father of the A.N.B.C. passed away.

1997
W.B.O. again rejected. Insurance of all Shows left to Zones to organize. Provisional Standard for the be drawn up. Opaline A.O.S.V. a standard class. Judges must have 5 years on their Zones Judging panel before qualifying for National accreditation. Also actively breeding budgerigars.

1998
National Logie discussed again. Clearbody standard accepted. Albino becomes a standard class. New National Standard be written. Establishment of a web site. Ron Hunt appointed official Historian.

1999
A two cent ring levy added to aid the costs of staging the National Show. One or Two day Show voted on and accepted. Spangle Double Factored Class added as point scoring. Crested club granted permission to show as an exhibition class for three years.

2000
First two day Show. Birds can only be shown once in one class on the weekend.

2001
Electronic scoring used for the first time replacing the huge cumbersome score board. A.N.B.C. joined A.B.A. re public liability Insurance at the National Show. A.N.B.C. became Incorporated in the A.C.T.

2002
New Standard Pictorials from the U.K. artist Roy Aplin acquired. No follow up response as to acceptance of the two day show. Incorporation accepted and an ABN number issued. A.N.B.C represented at a W.B.O. meeting for the first time in the U.K.

 2003
New Standard completed and approved. Back to a one day Show, and very successful. Golden Cob again renewed their seven year Sponsorship contract. A Hall of Fame Honor Roll to be established. Crest variety was included as a point scoring class.

 2004
Finally Green / Greygreen, Blue / Grey split and added as stand alone full scoring classes. Clearbody also accepted as a point scoring class. Hall of Fame for Breeder Excellence established. Minimum of four wins in one variety or seven overall any variety wins. Victoria wins it eighth consecutive Shield.

 2005
First ever one day Show using six Judges by three classes simultaneously. Worked very well. Clearbody variety an exhibition class. 

 2006
Ron Hunt retires as the Historian and Leigh Downey assumes the roll. Championship Logies introduced for the first time on a six year cycle. This year a return to a two day Show with an International Judge the first in 31 years. Mr. Jeff Attwood from the U.K.

 2007
New Zealand joined the A.N.B.C.as an Affiliation member. Second International Judge officiating, Marcel Buhler from Switzerland. Very technical Judging.

 2008
Ring Issue date changed to the first of September. Third in a row International Judge used. Janice Al-Nasser from the U.K. The Standard was loaded onto the web site.

 2009
Scoring was made available immediately after judging on the W.W.Web. A great innovation. Future hosting of the National competition at any venues / cities must give serious consideration to Airport time friendly positions.

 2010
Hall of Fame for Service and Commitment to the A.N.B.C. (Finally)  Five people inducted. Brian West. (Nth.Qld). Stan Watson. (S.A.) George Duffield. (S.A.) Harry Eady. (Vic.) Bruce Bradford. (N.S.W.) Postal vote to be taken as to two or three birds on the bench as per classes. Year 1.& 2,3 birds, then 3 & 4, 2 birds. Trial. Show moved to end of June for some not thought out stupid reason.

 2011
First year of three birds on the bench. Very well received. International Judge Galib Al- Nasser from the U.K. Hosted the W.B.O. meeting with 16 International attendees. Very successful.

 2012
Second year three birds per class benched. Again very well received, but June date not so well as it interfears with school holidays higher prices etc. Original Hall of Fame Inductees all received wall plaques. Changed matrix, English Yellow face and Australian Golden face. Complaints not enough time given for added classes. On a sadder note, the Secretary Bob Bourke passed away. 

 2013
First year of two birds on the bench trial. Not well received. Attendees down. Not very popular. Four classes added. Australian Golden face, Dilute, Violet, and Spangle A..O.S.V. Ring issue date again changed back to January one. New ring supplier sourced. June date again.

 2014
Second year two bird trial.. Reserve bird left in the holding cage. Exhibitor numbers again down.. But birds able to be in on the Thursday giving them a day to settle. Still in June. International Judge used, Linda Patten from New Zealand. Demonstration class introduced. Dark eyed clears, non point scoring.

 2015
Eight new classes introduced inside ten years, a big increase.  Resorted to three birds per  class finally and very well received. Constitution require a five seventh majority pass vote on motions. Computer hook up meetings quarterly considered. European ring manufacturers sourced.

 2016
Increase of ring levy funding to host zones by 25% to aid in the increased costs of running a National Show. Investigate centralization of future National Shows via a management committee. Better ring internal diameter accepted. Quarterly electronic meeting introduced and actioned successfully. Five long time members inducted into the Hall of Fame. Dark eyed clears still a demo class.

 2017
W.A. was not represented this year owing to travel restrictions for the bird. Six zones competed. The first time they have been missing since 1978. Not enough done as per 2009 airport friendly considerations.Web site has a new master. Photos still remain a slow work in progress. Containerization of National cages and equipment requirements are to proceed, to be available in2018. Motions of major significance have a moratorium of five years before any further or similar motions are entertained. Dark eyed clears approved as a point scoring class next year. C&S white cap interim standard approved.

 2018
All zones again represented with some very powerful birds from right across Australia. Containerization used for the first time and proved very successful. The Venue was extremely large and worked very well. From a problem prone year B.S.N.S.W. managed a very well run successful weekend. Congratulations to them. No great motions to be considered so a successful delegates meeting was held. Bruce and Nola Bradford donated their three and a half decades of photos and result books to the A.N.B.C. to be used for future generations delving into history and evolution of the budgerigar and the National Show. A lovely gift from two dedicated people. 

 2019
SQBBA hosted this year in Brisbane. After a lot of changing of times and protocol everything worked smoothly and again containerization of all cages equipment etc. ran exactly to plan. Consideration in future should be given to adequate area for public viewing of birds after judging as it was quite crowded and at times hard to see the birds. The Australian white cap was the new exhibition class and was a very strong competitive class of Budgerigars. But all in all a very successful weekend.

2020
No Show due to COVID Protocols

2021
No Show due to COVID Protocols

2022
Victor Harbour saw the first ANBC show with no audience, due to COVID restrictions. It also forced the first ever live streaming of the event to the Internet.

2023
Guests were welcomed back to Ballarat – fanciers from across the country flocked together for the first time since 2019. Live streaming was also included

2024
The Launceston event saw the BCT take a chance on a new Friday night initiative, On The Perch.

Summary of ANBC Show Results

Year and host	Participants (winner in bold)	Classes judged and development of the show
1975 Victoria	Victoria, NSW, South Australia	Normal Green, Normal Blue, Blackeye, Ino, Greywing, Cinnamon, Clearwing, Opaline, Yellow Face, Pied, Hen (any variety)
1976 NSW	Victoria, NSW	Classes as above.  Score board used.  Dinner dance on Saturday night.
1977 South Australia	South Australia, Victoria, NSW	Classes as above.
1978 Victoria	Victoria, South Australia, NSW, WA	Classes as above.  Saturday night dinner became an established practice.
1979 NSW	Victoria, South Australia, NSW, WA,  Queensland	Classes as above.  Bryan Byles, UK, guest lecturer.
1980 South Australia	Victoria, South Australia, NSW, Sth Queensland, Nth Queensland, WA	Classes as above. Gerald Binks, UK, guest lecturer.
1981 WA	Victoria, South Australia, NSW,  Nth Queensland, WA	Classes as above, but separate classes for Dominant and Recessive Pieds. Creation of the A.N.B.C..  Brian West elected Secretary.
1982 Nth Qld.	Victoria, South Australia, NSW, Sth Queensland, Nth Queensland, WA	Fallows added. Adoption of A.N.B.C. Constitution and Show Rules
1983 Victoria	Victoria, South Australia, NSW, Sth Queensland, Nth Queensland, WA, Tasmania	Spangles added.  A Standard was adopted for the National Show.
1984 NSW	Victoria, South Australia, NSW, Sth Queensland, Nth Queensland, WA, Tasmania	Interstate judges used for the first time.
1985 Sth Qld	A.N.B.C. membership remains unchanged.  Winner: Victoria	Establishment of a committee to prepare a corrected standard.  Members were Colin Morgan, Harry Eady and George Duffield. System for selecting judges from all member bodies established. Jeff Attwood, U.K.  Dr Harold Cooper and Kelwyn Kakoschke guest lecturers.
1986 South Australia	Winner: South Australia	Lacewings included.
1987 WA	Winner: NSW	Brian West joins Standards Committee.  Standard to be based on a model. Jeff Attwood from the UK attended.
1988 Tas.	Winner: NSW	Judging by four judges in two panels. Standard Show cage approved. Fred Sherman, U.K. guest lecturer.
1989 Nth Qld	Winner: South Queensland	Formation of Steering Committee to establish a National Judges panel.
1990 Victoria	Winner: Victoria	Separate classes for Australian Dominant and Variegated Dominant Pieds prove unsuccessful.
1991 NSW	Winner: Victoria	Reverts to single class for all forms of Dominant Pied. Dr John Baker, U.K. guest lecturer.
1992 Sth Qld	Winner: Victoria	Variable class introduced.  Dark factor Green included. Bruce Bradford elected Secretary of A.N.B.C..  Reinhardt Molkentein, Germany guest lecturer.  Jeff Attwood from the U.K. attended.
1993 SA	Winner: Victoria	Sub committees to report to A.N.B.C. meeting each year. Dark factor blue included as variable class. Terry Tuxford, U.K. guest lecturer.
1994 WA	Winner: Victoria	Variable class system changed to a six year cycle of three varieties, Opaline AOSV, Double Factor Spangle and Albino.  Opaline AOSV included. Ghalib Al Nassar, Janice Foxton and Mick Wheeler from the UK attended.
1995  Tas	Winner: NSW	Albino included in variable class.  Open show on Saturday of weekend not strongly supported. Carol Gough elected Secretary, A.N.B.C..  A.N.B.C Ring Code commenced.
1996 Nth Qld	Winner: Victoria	Double Factor Spangle included as variable class.
1997 Victoria	Winner: Victoria	Opaline AOSV included as variable class.
1998 NSW	Winner: Victoria	Opaline AOSV included. Albino as variable class. Funding/Sponsorship concerns. Bruce Bradford elected Secretary, and Ron Hunt elected Historian, A.N.B.C.
1999 S Qld	Winner: Victoria	Albino included. DF Spangle as variable class. Show conducted over two days. Ring Levy commenced. Maurice Roberts from the UK attended.
2000 SA	Winner: Victoria	DF Spangle included. Crests on show as exhibition class. Show conducted over two days
2001 WA	Winner: Victoria	Crests on show as exhibition class. Show conducted over two days.  Jeff Attwood,  UK guest lecturer.
2002 Tas	Winner:  Victoria	Crests on show as exhibition class. Show conducted over two days. Ghalib and Janice Al-Nasser, U.K, guest lecturers.
2003 Nth Qld	Winner:  Victoria	Crests included as official class. Clearbody on show as exhibition class. Show conducted as a one  day show.  Alistair Home elected Secretary.
2004 NSW	Winner: NSW	Thirtieth anniversary of ANBC. Clearbody included as an Official Class. Show conducted as a two day show. Hall of Fame established with seven inaugural inductees. New Standard took effect on 1 January 2004. Gerd Bleicher from Germany attended.
2005 Victoria	Winner: NSW	A.N.B.C. Committee established.  A.N.B.C. National trophy introduced.  Show conducted as a one day show, Six judges used. Rule change effected to allow an international judge and A.N.B.C. judges in partnership to adjudicate.  Bob Bourke elected Secretary. Two inductees to the Hall of Fame.
2006 Sth Qld	Winner: NSW	Show conducted as a two day show. Jeff Attwood, UK co-adjudicated as our first international judge.  Doug Sadler, UK attended.  Golden Cob acknowledged for 21 years of National sponsorship.
2007 SA	Winner:  Victoria	Show conducted as a two day show.  Marcel Buhler, Switzerland co-adjudicated and presented lectures. BSNZ affiliated with A.N.B.C.  Gina House elected as first lady President.  Ron Pierce and Rick Watts, UK attended.
2008 WA	Winner:  Victoria	Show conducted as a two day show.  Janice Al-Nasser, UK co-adjudicated and presented lectures. WBO President, Gerd Bleicher and Secretary Ghalib Al-Nasser attended, Ghalib presented a lecture.  Two inductees to the Hall of Fame.
2009  Tas	Winner. Victoria	Scoring was made available immediately after judging on the World Wide Web (WWW). A great innovation. Future hosting of the National competition at any venues / cities must give serious consideration to Airport time friendly positions
2010 Nth & C Qld.	Winner.  Victoria	Very successful two day show as now is the norm. Weekend move a week later in May than normal with no explanation. After 35 years on one weekend. Ring issue date moved again.
2011 NSW	Winner: NSW	First year of two year, trial with 3 bird from each zone on the bench. No reserve in the holding area. Very well received. International Judge. Ghalib Al-Nasser from the U.K. W.B.O. Meeting held at the First year of.  A great gathering of International guests enjoyed our hospitality.
2012 Victoria.	Winner: Victoria	Second year 3 birds per class trial. Jim Fletcher became the Secretary.  Perch size resorted back to 12mm from 16mm. The vote to move to June next year approved. Previous secretary Bob Bourke passed away
2013 Sth.Qld.	Winner:  Victoria	First year trial back to two birds per class benched. Not popular and a very flat show. Four new classes added.  Now 26 classes. Violet, Australian yellow face, Dilute, Spangle A.O.S.V.  June show date also not popular.
2014 S.A.	Winner:  Victoria	Second year 2 bird trial. Linda Patten International Judge from New Zealand. Our first guest Judge from that country. Numbers down as per trial two birds, also Judging very harsh with too many disqualifications. In retrospect the birds should penalised as exhibitors are really deflated when that happens. International ring supplier sourced. Dark eyed clears accepted as an exhibition class for no points. June show again.
2015 W.A.	Winner.  Victoria	Eight new classes in ten years added. Leigh Downey becomes secretary. New ring manufacturer appointed. Decentralized show was a bit far from the airport but a small Zone did themselves proud after plenty of Problems. June show again.
2016 Tas	Winner.  Victoria	Three Judging sessions introduced with a full swap of judges. Allows more time on the Sunday afternoon for the auction and all other official meeting requirements. Live streaming continues to improve. Five Inductees into the Hall of Fame for service to the hobby. International Judge from South Africa, Malcolm Taylor. June show again.
2017 Nth & C Qld	Winner: NSW	Only six zones competed as W.A. could not logistically send their team in an acceptable time. Refer to Airport friendly comments. years ago. It was the first time since 1983 that all zones were not represented. Show moved back to May and very well received.  Moratorium on major motions passed. Five years now before they can be re assessed. So ring issue date set at the 1st. January. Dark eyed clears accepted as a point scoring class.
2018 NSW	Winner: Victoria	All seven zones competed again with a lot of exceptional birds from all zones on display. One Inductee into the Hall of Fame for Services rendered. Mr Dave Ganzer. Gerd Bleicher from Germany, Judged.
2019 Sth.Qld.	Winner: Victoria	A very successful Show in the heart of Brisbane, again with some magnificent exhibits. Australian white caps made an Exhibition class and were very strong. All events of the weekend worked very well. Judges status moved back to twice in five years not seven.
2020	Cancelled Due to COVID
2021	Cancelled Due to COVID
2022 S.A.	Winner: Victoria	Victor Harbour was the first ever event with audience restrictions in place, due to COVID protocols. It forced the need for live streaming, so for the first time, YouTube was used to live stream the 2 day event.
2023 Victoria	Winner: Victoria	Crowds returned to regional Victoria in Ballarat, where the BCV hosted the first live event since 2019. Live streaming was also a feature of the event.
2024 Tas	Winner: Victoria	The BCT took some well measured risks, and incorporated the first ever On The Perch, a Friday night panel, to talk all things budgerigars. Live streaming was also a feature of the event, as key sponsors such as Hentley Farm and Media Stable came on board. Event is featured on Channel 7’s Sunrise program.

Why Understand ANBC History