EFFIE BATEMAN | Lifestyle | Contact
A Betoota Ponds apprentice sparky has copped some shit today, by rocking up the worksite sporting a flash 9-piece tool kit that even some of the more seasoned tradies haven’t splashed out for.
Breaking the unspoken rule that no noob should spend thousands of dollars on tools or hobbies they’ve just started, Tom Briggs, 18, has already given himself a nice little target for his back on day one – doing the tool equivalent of rocking up to your first sparky job in a brand new Ford Ranger.
“Everyone knows you start on Ozito and work your way up from there”, says one of Tom’s coworkers, “a 9 piece Milwaukee set should be earned.”
Despite there being whispers that Tom must either come from one of those private school families or has racked up debt, he’s assured everyone that he’s not quite the dickhead he appears to be, having scored himself one of those new energy apprenticeships that pay $10K for extra financial support.
This is part of the Australia government’s new incentive program to help build a skilled workforce needed to transition to clean energy, which has already seen plenty of young tradies take up the offer.
“Look, I’m just investing in myself and my future ”, shrugs Tom, “it practically pays for itself.”
“And yeah, I might be new to all this, but even I know Ozito is a single-use plastic.”
“Plus, they can all give me shit now, but guess who’ll be asking to borrow my drill in a couple of months?”
More to come.
