Les Dingo, John West and Kelvin Dingo

They look so alike it is difficult to tell identical twins Kelvin and Leslie Dingo apart.

They have a lot of other similarities too. They’re both enthusiastic and highly motivated; and they both smile easily when they talk about their work as apprentices; Kelvin as an auto electrician and Leslie as a boilermaker at Rio Tinto Minerals’ Lake MacLeod operation.

“Something else they have in common is that they are stars of the Carnarvon Partnerships for Success project,” says John West, a schoolteacher at Carnarvon High School and the co-ordinator of the Carnarvon partnership.

“Leslie and Kelvin were clearly very bright and obvious candidates to be included in the partnership which, similar to Gumala Mirnuwarni, provides an Enrichment Centre… facilities for Indigenous children after school hours where they can do their homework, access the internet for research and receive one-on-one tutoring.”

John West in Homework Centre in Carnarvon


Homework Centre in Carnarvon

“In fact,” laughs Darryl Messenger, Operations Manager at Lake MacLeod, “when Kelvin and Leslie applied for apprenticeships we had only one vacancy. But these blokes were so good we made a case for two. They are really very similar; even down to how bright they are.” 

“But we put them through their paces when they applied,” says Alan Perry, Maintenance Supervisor at Lake MacLeod. “They had to fill in multi-page assessment forms that told us about their capabilities and their psychological profiles. Both of these guys came across as having very high mechanical skills, motivation and ambition.”

“Ambition is something the partnership seeks to foster,” adds John. “Apart from Kelvin and Leslie we have two girls who have completed their first year at university, another girl applying for a university place and a girl who has just successfully obtained an apprenticeship as a boilermaker.”

“In all cases,” John continues, “we are trying to get across that anything is possible - what we call the ‘Follow the Dream Strategy.’ That strategy even goes as far as providing a uniform of black, brown and gold so the kids in the partnership can feel readily identifiable.”

Says Darryl, “If Partnerships for Success can continue supplying us apprentices of the same level as Leslie and Kelvin, we will be very happy. They are a credit to the project.”

John West agrees. “I’m really proud of these blokes. These guys could do anything.”