Angus Taylor injured in Pollie Pedal bike crash during 1000km veterans charity ride through Queensland
Angus Taylor has revealed the painful aftermath of a dramatic bike stack, admitting ‘everything’ hurts as he pushes on with a gruelling 1000km charity ride.
Opposition Leader Angus Taylor has laughed off a painful tumble from his bike while taking part in a gruelling 1000km charity ride through Queensland, admitting just about “everything” hurts after hitting the deck.
Mr Taylor took a spill while riding in the annual Pollie Pedal, but dusted himself off and climbed straight back on the bike to continue the eight-day challenge raising money for Australian veterans.
Appearing on Sunrise on Tuesday morning, a rather sore-looking Mr Taylor admitted he was feeling the effects.
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By continuing you agree to our Terms and Privacy Policy.“Yeah, not too bad. I think it’s more the wear and tear on my muscles than the skin that’s gone on my hip,” he said.
“But everything’s pretty sore at this moment.”
Asked what was hurting the most the morning after his crash, Mr Taylor had a simple answer.
“Everything, Matt. Everything.”
The Liberal leader said the fall happened so quickly he initially had little idea whether he had seriously injured himself.
“I didn’t really know it happened so fast. I mean, it’s not the first bike crash I’ve had. I’ve been riding for many, many years, so I’ve had some worse ones than that,” he said.
“But it’s never fun. And you just get back up and go again. You get back up and go again. So that’s what I did.”
Mr Taylor even managed to squeeze in a cheeky political line while discussing his spectacular stack.
“And I’m not in denial about falling off my bike either. So important to fess up,” he said.
The Opposition Leader is four days into the eight-day Pollie Pedal, which began in Toowoomba and will see participants cover about 1000km.
This year’s ride is supporting Wandering Warriors, which helps Australian special forces veterans transition from military service into civilian life.
Mr Taylor said a little gravel rash paled in comparison to the cause riders were supporting.
“It’s a real privilege. For four years now, we’ve been supporting our Wandering Warriors and the Soldier On for a number of years before that,” he said.
“It’s great to be able to support a group of people who, who are prepared to fight for our country, have been prepared to fight for our country.”
Pollie Pedal has been running since 1998 and has raised about $7.6 million, with its fundraising efforts focused on veterans in recent years.
Despite being bruised and battered, politics was never far away from Tuesday morning’s conversation.
Mr Taylor was also pressed on the Coalition’s immigration policy amid an increasingly heated political debate over migration targets.
He said the Coalition expected its eventual net overseas migration cap would sit “well below 200,000”, but stopped short of locking in a firm number, saying it would be tied to Australia’s housing supply.
“We’ve got to make sure we match the number of people coming into the country with the number of houses being built,” he said.
“As I say, we expect that’s going to be well below 200,000.”
For now, however, Mr Taylor has another immediate challenge ahead — getting through another four days on the bike with considerably less skin on his hip.
