Michael Pascoe writes:

Yet again, I’ve been proven wrong – there is more to Austrade than serving AWB. I didn’t know about Billie Goat Soap.

Media Release of the Day Award goes to Austrade for “Goat Milk Soap Cleans Up In Korea”, which begins:

Recent figures show Australian soap exports have cleaned up in Korea with sales increasing by 19 per cent. Adding to this success is a NSW Central Coast businesswoman who has made her first export sale of fresh goat milk soap.

In the last six months, Billie Goat Soap from Ourimbah about 1.5 hours drive north of Sydney has exported three shipments of a unique blend of luxury oil and goat milk soap to Korea.

Austrade’s Seoul-based Senior Trade Commissioner, Elizabeth Masamune said Billie Goat Soap is a fine example of a small Australian company producing on a commercial basis a hand-made quality product.

Billie Goat Soap founder and CEO Leanne Faulkner said she initially developed her hand-made soap based on fresh goat milk from her own goats to treat her younger son’s dry skin condition.

And so on. Funny thing is, over a long period covering Australian and international business, it is the occasional Billie Goat Soap story that really brings pleasure. And I’m yet to hear of a goat milk soap maker paying kickbacks in Iraq.

It would be churlish to point out nanny goats are of more use than billies in producing goat milk. We won’t go there.