In 1985, having a year off between school and university was almost unheard of. I cannot now recall what motivated me to take a year before starting university. I just knew that there were some things I wanted to do before I went to university – things I felt would pass me by if I didn’t take the opportunity then and there.

In the almost eighteen months between sitting the HSC and starting university I spent three months in each of the summers leading horse treks in the Snowy Mountains. At a young age I was responsible for a group of a dozen or so horses and riders (and accompanying pack horses) on week long horse trips. I led the way, cooked, hobbled and shod horses and set up camp each night. For four months over the winter I worked in the evenings and early mornings as a handy man in a ski lodge. During the day, I trained to be a volunteer ski patroller. I pulled people out of snow slides, treated dozens of compound fractures and other serious injuries and searched for missing people in blizzards. I spent another three months working as a builder’s labourer on a construction site in Brisbane. I spent most of it on a hot roof, hammering. For the balance of the eighteen months, I worked on my parents’ property as a station hand. 

In each of these jobs the wages were miniscule - but I saved just about every penny. In each of the jobs – in tourism, construction and agriculture - I had to work hard and learn fast. In each job I met incredible people of all ages and from all walks of life from all over Australia and even around the world. I learned invaluable skills that I possess to this day that I would not otherwise have. I established jobs that I could return to in university holidays over the next few years.

That year was one of the most challenging, productive and formative periods of my life. I tell everyone who is looking for advice that if I had my time again, I’d always take a gap year. I wouldn’t change a thing.

Angus Taylor

Member for Hume