Dick Smith donates $5 million to Australian charities

After two years of Covid heartache for charitable organisations across the country, entrepreneur and philanthropist Dick Smith says if ever there is a time to give back it is now.

Dick Smith and his wife Pip will this week give $5 million to the 66 charities they have supported over the past 30 years.

The Smiths’ generosity — five times what they would normally give in one year — comes after two years of Covid heartache for charitable organisations across the country and includes $1 million for The Salvation Army and $1 million for The Scout Association of Australia.

Smith remembers the Scouts fondly as part of his childhood, growing up in East Roseville and going across to Castle Cove to catch lizards.

Speaking exclusively to The Sunday Telegraph, Smith said if ever there was a time to give back — and give more — it was now.

Entrepreneur, philanthropist and “buy Australian” advocate Dick Smith. Picture: Richard Dobson

“We do it because it makes us feel good,” the 77-year-old said.

“Pip and I were sitting around he kitchen table and I said: ‘Did you ever think when we started Dick Smith Electronics with $610, that one day we’d be sitting around the table making a decision like this?’.

“Of course, she said no — but that’s where I think we have an obligation.

“If you’re well off, you have an obligation to openly give back to society.

“My parents taught me that and my time in the Boy Scouts taught me that — I was taught to help other people at all times.”

Dick first met Pip when she was 19. They have two daughters and school-aged grandchildren, including one doing their HSC. He said his own story of feeling “dumb” at school and not fitting the mould, should offer young Australians the hope they needed to follow their dreams, just like he did.

After starting Dick Smith Electronics in 1968 and learning to fly in 1972, the self-made entrepreneur made the first solo trans-Atlantic flight by helicopter 10 years later; the same year he completed the first solo helicopter trip around the world. He’s also climbed the most remote of the world’s seven summits.

This is just the tip of the iceberg of extraordinary feats he details in his new book, My Adventurous Life, which will be released tomorrow.

Lockdown has been hard on the adventurer, who isn’t used to being stuck at home, even in his piece of paradise at Terrey Hills.

“I’d been working on this book for over 10 years but, with the lockdown last year, I could sit down and concentrate, and that’s when I finished it,” he said.

“I must admit the lockdowns have been pretty tough on me having to stay at home all the time … and before that Pip and I were driving around Australia.
“We’ve actually left our four-wheel drive up in Darwin in early June and we haven’t been able to get back to pick it up … hopefully we can do that in the next month or two.”

Christmas will be a family affair, something that’s always been important to the couple.

Next year is less about conquering world heights and more about continuing to help those who need it.

“We’re very much a family that sticks together, so on Christmas Day, we’ll all be together,” he said.

“The second-last sentence in my book says: ‘So the years ahead of me will be about giving back’ and I thought: ‘Well, we can give back some more than we normally do’.

“I feel unbelievably lucky because I married Pip when she was 19, and to think that we’re still together and happy and in love after 52 years.

“She supported my ventures, which were quite risky — and quite wonderful that she did that because it allowed me to satisfy my need for adventure and to risk my life.

“And I am lucky to be alive.

Pip and Dick Smith have been together for 52 years, with Dick saying his wife has been supportive of his adventures.

One of Dick Smith’s adventures included the first flight made from Australia to the Australian Antarctic Territory. Picture: Paul Hutten

“In fact, someone said to me: ‘Dick, you’re not the brave one, Pip is the brave one’, and they were right because she was brave to let me do these things and wait at home and wonder, would I actually turn up, or would the engine stop halfway across the Atlantic and would I disappear?

“So now it’s about giving back to my country.

“I won the lottery of life. I was born in the 1940s, I’ve never had to go to war, I’ve lived with wonderful growth around and I’ve had a wonderful marriage.

“I picked the right girl and I’ve been able to do well, and I think it’s an obligation to give back.

“We agree with Bill Gates, who says at least half his money will be given away before he dies – and we’ve got the same philosophy.

“Here in Australia, we have 100 billionaires and only 15 per cent of them are known as philanthropists.

“The balance, if they give money, they do it secretly and I don’t know why they’d be doing that.

“I hope this will be an example to some of my wealthy friends to also dig deep at this time to help people. I mean, you can’t take it with you.”

Dick Smith’s latest plans are less about conquering world heights and more about helping those who need it. Picture: Richard Dobson

Dick Smith charting a hot-air adventure in 1994.

The Salvation Army’s communications secretary, Lieutenant Colonel Neil Venables, said including this new announcement, Dick and Pip had donated more than $21 million to them over the last 25 years.

“Dick and Pip exemplify true philanthropy and inspire us all to think about what we can, to do to make a difference to the lives of those around us,” he said.

The Kidman Centre at UTS will be given $100,000, something director Rachael Murrihy said will help deliver mental health services to young people and their families who otherwise could not have afforded it.

“Dick Smith has been a longstanding and loyal donor to our centre for over 30 years. He was one of our first donors after Tony Kidman sent him a letter requesting a donation,” she said.

“He is a heart-driven donor, meaning he gives to charities big and small when their stories mean something to him. He takes the time to get to know us and learn about what we do.

“It’s donors like Dick that keep grassroot organisations like ours in Australia afloat.”

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