Colac lost a great champion of rural health care when Mathew Green died in July 2012. His surgical work along with an active obstetrics practice was invaluable to health services in Colac from 1963 until his retirement in 1999. Mathew was born in St. Kilda in 1931 and spent his early years in Bendigo. His father was a teacher and the family had an itinerant life in rural Victoria. Mathew excelled at secondary school, St Kevin's. He played in the First XVIII and was a fine tennis player. He enjoyed music and his academic record was excellent. He continued his rural life with summer farm jobs. Graduating in 1955 with Honours in Surgery and Obstetrics and Gynaecology he began surgical training at St Vincent's Hospital. In 1959 and 1960 he worked in London gaining the FRCS Eng. He returned to St Vincent's in 1963 and worked as an outpatient surgeon. He gained the FRACS and moved to Colac in 1964. He had married Denise Halstead, and they decided that a rural lifestyle had more opportunities for them. Colac offered a very busy medical life with a wide variety of surgery, an extremely busy obstetric practice and an onerous general practice on-call roster. Mathew and Denise revelled in these responsibilities. Mathew joined a practice with Jim McCarthy and Frances Galvin. Mathew had many other interests. As a fine sportsman he played squash and tennis. He had a fine palate and was an active member of the Colac Wine and Food Society. His knowledge and love of classical music was well known. During the busy years of practice, Mathew was supported by Denise and his family. The children, Elizabeth, Andrew, Rebecca, Emma, Richard, Christopher, Bridget and Paul were great sources of delight to him. Mathew was a highly respected member of the Colac medical fraternity. He was always encouraging and supportive of young surgeons. It was a privilege to have been a colleague of his.