ADJOURNMENT

Ms MASCARENHAS (Swan) (16:35): Burswood Road in Burswood—an unassuming road, it's a road that I've travelled on many times as a little girl that grew up in the Goldfields, because we'd always stop at Burswood Seafood. But I went there recently, thinking that I knew everything there was to know about Burswood Road because my husband used to also work on that road.

I entered through this unassuming door, and I got to meet this incredible man called Frank Mitchell—curly hair, big smile, really good energy. I was entering his business. Frank Mitchell is Local Hero of the Year, and I got to enter into his business called Kardan Construction.

This was alongside the Minister for Skills and Training. I got to meet an incredible number of Aboriginal electrical apprentices. Frank took over Kardan 10 years ago with eight staff and a $1.5 million turnover.

Today, across four companies, including Baldja and Bilyaa, he employs more than 200 full-time employees. Frank is a proud Aboriginal man. As a young single dad who was unsure about his future, his vocation and what he'd do for work, his uncle offered him a mature-age apprenticeship.

He has spoken about that moment and how he felt that it was amazing that someone believed in him so much to give him this 'sweet as' opportunity. When he became a business owner in 2015, he made a pledge. He would create the same 'sweet as' opportunities for his community, and he certainly has kept that pledge.

Across his businesses, Frank and his partners have created more than 70 Aboriginal upskilling positions in the electrical and construction industry, including 30 electrical apprenticeships that have awarded more than $11 million to Aboriginal subcontractors. I visited Kardan with the Minister for Skills and Training, and we were met with some of the amazing team members from Frank's team.

I have to say that, when you think of, let's say, electrical construction offices, you don't imagine the offices that I got to walk into. There are these beautiful plants as you go up the steps. You walk into reception; there's beautiful artwork all across the walls.

Then you get to go downstairs and go into this place that, in my husband's work, would be called a dungeon. That's what they call it there. But, here, I would describe it as a paradise.

What was amazing was seeing this phenomenal wall of amazing Aboriginal artists from wall to wall and floor to ceiling. It was incredible. I also let Frank know that, having checked out Wesfarmers' artwork, I think it was actually better.

What I also got to do was meet one of the apprentices, Tessa Walley. Tessa is a proud Whadjuk Noongar woman, and she is completing her electrical apprenticeship through Wilco Electrical. Tessa told us that she didn't know much about electrical work before she started.

But her dad used to drive her around the neighbourhood fixing phone lines and doing low-voltage work, and she thought 'YOLO'. For those that need a translation, it means 'you only live once'. After Tessa finishes her apprenticeship this year, she hopes to study electrical engineering in her future, because she sees a gap in the industry where engineers design electrical systems that don't always work in the field but work in theory.

As an engineer, I totally recognise that sometimes engineers do get it wrong, but the best engineers are those that have actually done a trade. I also want young women and First Nations people watching someone like Tessa and knowing that the pathway is real and that it is open to them. That's why the support structures around apprenticeships matter so much.

Frank has been clear that the system still has barriers, particularly for Aboriginal apprentices trying to finish. He advocates constantly for fixing the structural barriers to ensure that we can have retention, because he has lived them. The Albanese government is acting on this.

Under the Key Apprenticeship Program, apprentices in critical housing and construction and clean energy occupations can receive up to $10,000 over the life of their apprenticeship. Jobs and Skills Australia has projected that we'll need another 32,000 electricians by 2030, and another 130,000 more construction workers. Fee-free TAFE is a part of that pipeline.

It's a practical way that the Albanese government is making a positive difference.