"Well done, Angus" are the first words from well-wishers as they stop by the local member's cafe table, where he's enjoying a skim flat white ahead of his routine Sunday morning cycle.
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The blush-making bumble on Angus Taylor's social media had once again become a sincere endorsement of his return as Hume MP for a third term.
With nearly 71 per cent of votes counted the morning after the federal poll, Mr Taylor had secured 61.74pc, up 1.56pc on 2016, on preferences. His primary vote (53.53pc) was down by 0.3 per cent on 2016 (aec.gov.au).
"I always have confidence in the people that Scott [Morrison] calls 'the quiet Australians'," Mr Taylor said.
"I think in an electorate like this, the vast majority are just getting about their work, doing what they do every day, and ... they're the ones I have faith in.
"They've returned me with ... the highest majority I've had since I've been in the seat. It's humbling. And I think this is a great victory for [them].
"The key thing now for us is to govern and for me to lead in Hume for those people."
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He wants "to lead for everyone [from] Wyangala Dam to the western Sydney airport. That's actually the stretch. It's massively different, and that's what makes it a massively exciting electorate to represent.
"To have locals who are not only my supporters, but who can tell me what the issues are in each area, I have been working on that since 2012.
"Those people are ... my eyes and ears, on the issues and the things I need to focus on. They are an incredible support base."
Over the next three years, he'll look to infrastructure projects to - quite literally - build the region: "telecommunications; bridges; right through to a massive new city in the west of Sydney.
"That has flow-on implications for Goulburn because we see more and more industry moving into Goulburn," he says, citing quarries, manufacturing and the new brewery as examples.
"In the western and southern areas, there is a lot of agriculture, and we've got to continue to strengthen it in this region and this country.
"Bridges that are now dilapidated after years of under-investment, we're now investing in them so stock trucks can get out to where they need to go."
In Goulburn, he says, he'll "keep pushing for ... the rail trail, the aquatic centre ... these are projects that I think really matter for this area.
"I'll keep supporting the council on what I think are some fantastic projects. We've done a number of projects in recent times, from the big, securing our basic infrastructure for growth like the wastewater treatment plant, and the smaller projects, like the walking trail, which is one of my favourites."
What about a new velodrome? "Well, we've got a velodrome. It's a wonderful velodrome. Could it do with an upgrade? Sure. I'm always enthusiastic about projects for the cycling community here [but] you've got to keep it balanced."
The blue sky project, "which is not blue sky any more," is a "third city for Sydney, in western Sydney, and all that flows from that. That is such an opportunity for Goulburn, to become an industrial hub, serving that new city."
Would he like to continue on as Energy Minister? "That's the gift of the Prime Minister," says the politician, adding: "It is one of the tougher jobs in politics, but also one of the more important.
"We've got record levels of investment in renewables: $25 billion in the next three years [but] it's got to be balanced. Australians understand balance. They understand sensible things.
"To do things in a crazy disproportionate way that's too fast for people to cope with, it doesn't work. I've seen it in business, I've seen it in politics, I've seen it in government."
His vision for the electorate "is the vision of every person in it. It's their aspirations that matter ... the visions of individuals." He believes it's a message that voters heard, loud and clear, and expressed at the polls.
"In every campaign, you always wish you could do more, and in any term of parliament you always wish you could do more, but at the end of the day you've got to do what you've got time to do," he said.
He thanked supporters, and family, "who are ... conscripts, not volunteers.
"My wife always says, 'You are the happiest when you've been out door-knocking in the electorate', and it's true, and the reason is because you meet those quiet Australians. It's when you meet those people who are getting about their lives, that you wouldn't normally meet in your job, because they don't come and seek you out, that's, to me, the people I have to thank most.
"And, of course ... my supporters, and my family. It can be pretty tough for them. Politics is grueling at times and I owe an enormous amount to my family putting up with me doing this incredibly important job."
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