SMITH, Mick

Mick arrived in Darwin some 49 years ago when he joined the Northern Territory Police seeking a life of adventure - and he certainly got plenty of that!

Indeed Mick’s adventure story began a few years earlier when he left his childhood home in Melbourne and headed north to destinations unknown. He departed from good employment with International Harvester Co where he was a new truck supply coordinator and headed off with two mates in a Volkswagen to find a more exciting life.

They arrived in Queensland where they were employed as peanut pullers and Mick also did a season as a cane cutter. In between times they would go surf fi shing at Coolum and enjoy some of the great surf beaches there. He also worked at the new Reef Hotel at Noosa Heads which was then just a little fishing village, and it was here that he owned his fi rst bit of real estate.

Mick went further north on his own to Cloncurry where he was employed by an exploration company seeking mineral deposits. Whilst there his dad sent him a cutting from the Melbourne Herald titled “A life of adventure in the NT Police” by Doug Lockwood, and a few months later Mick joined up in Darwin. This led to a number of postings around the Territory that involved a variety of police roles and some weird and wonderful experiences.

Mick subsequently achieved the rank of Commander,

and the prestigious Australian Police Medal for distinguished services to policing. He is also a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Management.

He met his wife Joan who was a Registered Nurse at the old Darwin Hospital and they recently celebrated their 45th wedding anniversary at their home in Fannie Bay where they have lived for many years. They have two sons Craig and Brad who with Joan are also “Territorians to the core”. All of them very much enjoy the fine arts, with Mick and Joan keen property investors also.

In 1994 Mick ventured into real estate in Darwin and immediately went from success to success receiving numerous achievement awards over the past 18 years. In 2006 when operating Mick Smith Real Estate P/L he was awarded the Owner Manager of the Year NT in the AIM Management Excellence Awards.

In 2007 Mick was ranked “Best Overall Sales Person” for the NT/SA region of a national agency and in the same region in 2009 he received the Raine & Horne “Gold Award” for the NT/SA for Best Sales Person.

He is also a skilled and experienced real estate photographer who provides excellent marketing presentations of clients’ properties which is particularly relevant for successful selling in the modern era.