He’s the local man that everyone has come to know and love.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
And this year he has been recognised by Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull for his innovation and determination to boost the Australian economy and represent Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander professionals.
Mick Davis, the founder of Warialda Engineering and Welding, was invited to an audience with the PM on Monday, February 13.
“It’s all got to do about Closing the Gap,” Mr Davis told The Times earlier this month.
“It’s about Indigenous business and that sort of stuff, and what he’s done is invited professional Indigenous businesses to his gathering down at the Parliament House.
“It was about recognising Indigenous business and individuals contributing to the Australian economy.”
Mr Davis said he believed the national interest ignited after his business won the Australian Ethnic Business Award in November 2016.
It was about recognising Indigenous business and individuals contributing to the Australian economy.
- Mick Davis
If his recent successes weren’t enough, the local entrepreneur has now started to look at new opportunities.
“Currently we’ve moved into the direction of manufacturing cattle feedlots in cattle yards,” he said.
“In the process we’ve acquired our own mixers and they enable us to batch concrete anywhere at anytime from a shovel full to 66 cubic metres per hour.
“It’s the latest thing we’ve bought and I don’t think there’s anything within a 400km radius of Warialda like it.”
At the speech, professionals were selected from across various fields to share their story of success and encourage and inspire the next generation of high achievers to fulfill their dreams.
Mr Davis said he had never forgotten the two people who gave him his first unsecured loan decades ago while he was living in a housing commission home in Inverell.
He thanked the late Jim Wright and Leah Armstrong from Yarnteen when he was on the national stage last year, accepting an award that recognises his contribution to Australia.
Foreign Affairs minister Julie Bishop presented Mr Davis with the 2016 Indigenous in Business Award at the Ethnic Business Awards.