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Posted: 2015-07-02 08:42:47

Posted July 02, 2015 18:35:29

It was a jam-packed day from one end of the Central Coast to the other, including a morning tea, media opportunity, a business luncheon and community afternoon tea along the way.

There were cheers and hugs from the faithful, and protests from union representatives and members of the public over funding cutbacks and the government's asylum seeker policy.

The day started with around 100 invited guests at a community morning tea at Mingara, hosted by local MP Karen McNamara.

"If you look at me you'll see I have these rather cauliflowered ears, some people say it's from playing too much rugby in my youth, but no, it's because Karen is always chewing my ear about the things that concern the Central Coast," joked the Prime Minister.

Mr Abbott mingled with community groups, local politicians and social advocates - happily posing for photos in the controlled and invitation-only reception.

Vivien Vandercroft is a client of Sunnyfield disability services and was thrilled to embrace the Prime Minister.

"It's absolutely fantastic to bring some of our clients along, some of the family members and staff to interact with the Prime Minister, just to see the smile on Vivien's face," said Sunnyfield general manager Stephen Russell.

Mr Abbott said the government was committed to national broadband rollout, working with police to crack down on the ice scourge and to ensuring the youth are job ready on the Central Coast.

"But most of all what I want to do is to say thank you to you, the leaders of the Central Coast, the volunteers of the Central Coast, for what you do to make our country what it is," he told the room.

At a local air conditioning factory in West Gosford he was joined by the Assistant Minister for Employment Luke Hartsuyker to promote the new Job Active system.

"There's more than a one-and-a-half billion dollars a year available, but the vast majority of their funding will be for actually putting people into work, not just processing people, not on training for training's sake - putting people into work," said Mr Abbott.

The Prime Minister then attended a $100 a head fundraising function in Gosford with Robertson member Lucy Wicks.

"We had around 300 people at our business luncheon, and we heard very clearly a strong plan for the Central Coast," said Ms Wicks.

Outside the fundraiser, local workers and residents protested the government's cuts to pensions, unaffordable University fees, attacks on Medicare and cuts to public services.

The Prime Minister concluded his visit with an afternoon tea for around 400 guests.

"We put out an invitation to a very broad audience focusing very strongly on community leaders, and the response was overwhelming," said the member for Robertson.

"He was there long after I left, shaking hands and speaking to everybody in the place, so credit to him, he's given a lot of time, and there were a lot of happy people," said mayor of Gosford, Lawrie McKinna.

Outside the afternoon tea, a silent protest against asylum seeker policy and other social issues was staged, with outspoken Anglican leader Father Rod Bower leading the way.

The Prime Minister also dispelled any rumours his rare visit to the Central Coast was pointing to an early election.

"There's no truth to that - the point I've been making is we've just had the most productive fortnight in this term of parliament, we had the small business boost pass through the parliament," he said.

Topics: government-and-politics, gosford-2250, tumbi-umbi-2261

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