Mrs ANDREWS (McPherson—Minister for Industry, Science and Technology) (14:29): I thank the member for her question. Mr Brendan O'Connor interjecting— Mrs ANDREWS: Like all of us on this side of the chamber, I know that the member— The SPEAKER: I would just ask the minister to pause. The member for Gorton has been warned. The minister has the call. Mrs ANDREWS: Thank you, Mr Speaker. Everyone on this side of the House understands and recognises that the future of Australian industry depends on having the skilled workforce of the future. We understand that STEM skills will be required for about 75 per cent of the jobs of the future, and many apprenticeships and vocational education courses require significant STEM components and some STEM skills. This is particularly important in rural and regional Australia, where specialist mining, agriculture and space sector jobs are located. The promotion of science and STEM, particularly in our rural and regional areas, is vital for our economy. So, it was an absolute pleasure earlier this year to announce, alongside the member for Robertson, that the fun of science was going to be coming to Gosford and to Woy Woy, in her electorate, as part of the government's $8.9 million expansion of the Questacon Science Circus. And of course last week we celebrated Science Week, with close to 2,000 events across the nation and over one million Australians participating. I acknowledge the great work of Questacon and the corporate sponsors who joined with the government in backing Science Week. We understand how important it is to make sure that everyone is inspired about science and particularly that our young people are inspired about science. Let me say this: as a declared fan of The Bachelor, I really want to point out that there's been a heightened interest in STEM as a result of Australia's current bachelor being an astrophysicist. Reports this week suggested that there had been a significant increase in inquiries about the study of science and that Google searches for 'astrophysicist' had gone through the roof. I'm all for popular culture that gets people talking about science, and I note that one of the finalists vying for the bachelor's heart in the finale tonight is in fact a chemical engineer. So I say: go, Chelsie! For the sake of Australian industry and for jobs across our nation—and particularly for our jobs in rural and regional Australia—I encourage all young Australians to consider their STEM options. And as the bachelor said last night: science is sexy!