Goosman was born in 1890 at Auckland. William Massey was his uncle. He received his education at Māngere and at the age of 13, he started work on a dairy farm. At age 17, he went to Gisborne and worked in the bush. During the Great Depression,[1] he started a transport business at Waihou, near Te Aroha,[2] which grew into a large company.[1] He was also a roading contractor.[3][4]
He was the Member of Parliament for Waikato1938–1946, Piako1946–1954, Waipa1954–1957, then Piako again 1957–1963, when he retired.[5] When defending the government during the 1951 waterfront lockout, he said, "All I have to say is that if Hitler had to deal with the same thing Hitler talked right."[6]
Despite carrying six ministerial portfolios in the First National Government, when the Second National Government was formed in 1960 he was offered only the Works portfolio causing him to protest to Keith Holyoake and Jack Marshall (who had concerns about his age at 70) and offered to retire which they dissuaded him from doing. He interpreted it as a vote of no confidence in his abilities and claimed he still had the energy of a much younger man, to settle the issue he was additionally appointed as Minister of Electricity to his satisfaction.[12]