Strong praise was lavished on Goulburn from Prime Minister Tony Abbott on a tour on Monday of a local farm and an alpaca wool business, as well as during a community morning tea hosted by Federal Member for Hume Angus Taylor.

During the morning tea, in which the Prime Minister took time to meet the majority of more than 200 attendees, Mr Abbott paid tribute to the hard working volunteers who he said were the ‘heart and soul’ of Goulburn. 

“I know a little bit more about Goulburn than I do of many cities because of the Pollie Pedal which has come through Goulburn on many occasions. It’s great to be able to salute the people who are literally and metaphorically going the extra mile for their friends, their neighbours, their town, their city, their state and their country. It’s what we choose to do, not what we have to do, which is the real measure of our humanity and this room is full of people who have decided out of the decency and goodness of their hearts to do more for others. I want to say thank you to you,” Mr Abbott said.

He praised the strong advocacy of Angus Taylor in prioritising improved telecommunications for his electorate.

“Angus has been absolutely ferocious in wanting to get the black spots fixed. Likewise the NBN rollout in this area is accelerating and by the end of next year more than 30,000 premises will be covered…I can assure you, your local Federal member is doing a tremendous job. He is turning heads and impressing people in Canberra and around the country and he has a very, very big future,” Mr Abbott said.

Angus Taylor thanked the Prime Minister for visiting Goulburn, the first visit of a Prime Minister to Goulburn since June 19 2007: “And on that day the mercury managed to get to 7.4 degrees. It’s clear we put on our very best weather for Prime Ministerial visits to Goulburn. I’m particularly delighted to have the Prime Minister here at this time in Goulburn’s history. A lot has changed since the last prime ministerial visit in 2007. Not only have we solved our water problems, there’s been enormous investment in this region, by businesses, by people and by government.

“The Prime Minister is only too aware of the enormous investments the Federal Government is making in this area – whether it’s the $10million wastewater treatment plant, $5million in roads and bridges locally, or the enormous investment going into the rollout of the NBN and new mobile phone towers over the next 18 months, as well as the new Headspace for Goulburn,” Mr Taylor said.

Earlier in the day the Prime Minister and Angus Taylor toured John and Prue Reynolds property at Tirrannaville. Mr Abbott said the Agricultural Competitiveness White Paper was all about ensuring agriculture was a huge part of Australia’s economic future.

“Agriculture is a $51 billion a year sector, it’s 15% of our total exports, we’re one of the largest in the world beef exporters, one of the largest in the world lamb and mutton exporters. We want this to get bigger and better in the years and decades to come and that’s what the Agricultural White Paper is all about, building on what we announced at Budget time.

“Here on the Reynolds’ farm, they’ve been able to take advantage of the $20,000 instant asset write off with a new ag bike and new fodder storages. There’s a whole range of measures in this White Pape; it’s a comprehensive road map for the future of agriculture in our country. It’s been informed by people like Angus Taylor, who know farming from the inside as well as from the outside,” Mr Abbott said.

The Prime Minister finished his visit to Goulburn with a tour of the House of Alpaca in Sloane Street, owned by Bill and Kyla Ham, which manufactures woollen items for export and domestic sale. The Hams are planning to purchase new spinning machinery on the back of Budget incentives for small business.

The Prime Minister purchased a pair of ugg boots, two pairs of feet warmers, a hat and two beanies.

Captions:

Pic 1 John Reynolds and his son Simon show the Prime Minister Tony Abbott and Angus Taylor some of their new property purchases.

Pic 2 Prime Minister Tony Abbott has thanked Goulburn's many volunteers, including cycling enthusiasts who have been involved in past Pollie Pedal fundraisers. The Prime Minister was delighted to catch up with Pollie Pedal Commissaire Graeme Northey, Goulburn Cycle Club junior representative Emma St Vincent, Goulburn Cycle Club treasurer Mrs Freda Bush and Goulburn Cycle Club President Adam Lambert. Angus Taylor is also a keen Pollie Pedal participant and member of the Goulburn Cycle Club.

Pic 3 Prime Minister Tony Abbott with a bag of woollen products from the House of Alpaca in Goulburn.