Aussies shocked after second-year apprentice reveals his $150,000 salary - as he defends the insane figure

A second-year apprentice tradesman has revealed he earns $150,000 a year, to the astonishment of many online viewers.

The young electrian disclosed his impressive pay packet when he was stopped on the street for an interview by jobs app GetAhead in Brisbane.

He has been on the job for just two years and works on the Queens Wharf redevelopment, where he was placed by Electrogroup - an organisation that trains electrical apprentices.  

'It's lucky that I'm there,' he said in a TikTok video.

The tradesman, who works full-time, said the job was 'pretty awesome' but not without its drawbacks.

'It's dangerous; anything can go wrong at any time and it's your life on the line,' he said. 

Standard shifts at the Queens Wharf - the redevelopment of a docks area into a 'lifestyle and entertainment precinct' - are 12 hours, with work starting at 6.30am. 

There is some overnight work in addition to the night shifts on Fridays and Saturdays.  

The clip, which has been viewed more than one million times, attracted plenty of comments from shocked social media users. 

'The amount of money tradies are making at the Queens Wharf is ridiculous. Pretty much all of them are making 6 figures,' one person said. 

'Apprenticeship 150k, I am in the wrong job,' another person wrote. 

'I want to be a sparky now.'

Others pointed out tradies were making much more than first responders. 

'When tradies get paid more than nurses and paramedics. You just know the system is stuffed,' another person wrote. 

Some defended the pay, saying he is being rewarded for taking up a job that others are not interested in doing

'For you guys wondering why he makes so much, it's because a lot of people don't want to do blue collar jobs. As simple as that,' one person said. 

Second year apprentices aged under 21 who have not completed Year 12, earn a minimum wage of $662.39 a week and are paid $17.43 an hour, according to the Electrical Trades Union. 

Second year adult apprentices over the age of 21 earn $956.61 a week and are paid $25.17 an hour.

Salaries for tradies has soared in recent years due to a shortage of workers, and the need for certificates and qualifications which new migrants do not have.