Plumber Shelley a role model for women, says minister

Minister of Women's Affairs Pansy Wong

Encouraging women into trade apprenticeships will help the nation to emerge from the economic downturn in a better position than when it began, says the Minister of Women's Affairs, Pansy Wong.

New Zealand needs to upskill across the board and also break down the gender divisions in the workforce, she says.

While some might argue that males and females naturally lean towards different occupations, Mrs Wong believes they are too often influenced by parents, and friends.

"Girls may want to get into the trades but they don't know anyone doing it."

She wants to see more role models like 20-year-old Shelley Weaver, from Wellington, who will complete her three-year apprentice in plumbing and gas fitting this year.

It is in the genes - her father is a plumbing inspector and her grandfather was a plumber - but that is not the only reason she did it.

She had heard the money was good, she did not fancy completing Year 13 or going to university and liked "hands-on stuff and being outside".

At first her father thought she was joking but he found her work experience and she decided she would stick with it.

"When I started it was a bit tricky because I was a bit shy and a lot of the guys weren't used to seeing a girl on site. But now people have got to know me, I am one of the guys."

Her friends think it is "really cool" and she finds it a talking point when she is introduced as "the plumber" at party.

She admits the job is physically tough. She struggles to lift gas heaters and baths, but being smaller than a lot of the men, she is able to get into nooks and crannies.

Only some women could do the job - "you can't be prissy". While you might come home greasy, she says, there is no need to get up early to blow-dry your hair and put on makeup.

Miss Weaver can see several paths for a future in plumbing and is pleased with her choice of career.