We couldn’t do anything we do with children if it weren’t for the support we receive from local entrepreneurs in our community. This is not a blatant plug for our sponsors, just an acknowledgment of the fact that everything we have been able to accomplish at Dulwich Hill has been a team effort between church and community.

People ask me often “I guess the church pays for all this, right?” I tell you directly, that our little church in Dulwich Hill has never been able to adequately pay even the minimum wage for its priest, and that the Church with a capital ‘C’ (ie. the Anglican Diocese of Sydney) has contributed almost nothing. No. Most of our support comes from the three local pubs: the Gladstone, the Royal exchange and the Henson Park Hotel – and the local RSL club (Ratina). The rest we collect through the Christians vs. Lions fight nights we organize and through other community events (for example, the Mayor’s Golf Day, the annual community Street fair, etc.).

It was not always so easy. In the early years we really struggled to keep the Youth Center open. Then we caught the eye of a corporate benefactor, who was able to keep us going long enough for us to put the other support in his place. That benefactor was Ray Williams, former CEO of HIH Insurance, one of the kindest, most loving and humble men I have ever met, and one of the least popular men in the country today.

It surprises me when I think about it. Some of the best people I’ve ever met are people with terrible reputations. In each case, of course, their reputation has been generated largely by the media.

When my partner Jim was shot, one of the major Sydney newspapers ran an article titled “Evil villain shot to death”. It featured a photo of Jim carrying an automatic weapon. The photo had been taken many years earlier during Jim’s time with the Australian Army. I thought ‘Bastards! That is not the man I know.

When Morde was on his way to Israel, I read a variety of articles that spoke of him as a sophisticated spy, working for the Arabs and seeking to destroy his country. I thought ‘Bastards! You have no idea who you are talking about.

Now I read stories about Ray, how he manipulated the market to line his pockets, and how he deliberately defrauded millions of people, and I think about it again. ‘Bastards’.

Ray was sent by God to help us. I have no doubt about it. I first put him through a fight that I accepted, even though Ray himself wasn’t a boxing fan.

The story of that fight was itself quite strange.

One afternoon I was sitting with the Archdeacon in my office. He was pointing his finger at me and telling me that I would have to close the Youth Center. “You just don’t have enough money to keep going” he said. And he was right. We were exactly $ 1000 short of being able to pay our youth worker’s salary for the next month. I was feeling pretty nonchalant about all this and telling him to have more faith. Exactly at that moment Kon, my coach, came to the door.

“Dave, do you want to fight like a pro?” I ask. “Not” was my knee jerk reaction. I had just completed my wrestling career (I thought) with a shot at the NSW super welterweight title in kickboxing. The law in this state at the time was that you had to hang up your gloves when you turned 35. I was 34 years and nine months at that stage. “How much are they offering?” I asked Kon. “$ 1000” he said. I told him I would take it. We raised about $ 50,000 for the Youth Center through that fight. More than half of that money came through Ray.

A guy named Jeff Wells wrote an article about my fight that was published in the Sydney Morning Herald on a Saturday. After that, checks for up to $ 1000 began to arrive in the mail! Then one morning a messenger appeared with two checks: one for $ 10,000 made out to HIH insurance, and another for $ 15,000 made out to Mr. R. Williams. I remember shaking when I received these checks. I have never seen so much money before in my life.

I had never heard of Ray Williams, but his business card was attached, so I called the number and got one of those classic receptionist voices, saying “Mr. Williams is busy at the moment. May I take a message?” Then I mentioned my name and suddenly I was talking to Ray.

“Ah … hi … do I know you?” I started. “No I dont think so” he said. “You just felt like checks for $ 25,000” Said. “Yes” he said. “Um … are you a local from around here? Have you been looking at our work?” I asked. “Not” he said. “Well … are you connected to church or youth work around here?” “Not” he said. “Well … are you a fan of fights?” I asked, looking for some point of connection. “No way” he said. “I read an article about you in the Herald and it seemed like you needed help.” “Yes, I do” Said. “Well will that help?” I ask. “Oh yeah” Said, “That will help.”

This is how our relationship began. Over the years that followed, Ray became very interested in our work. As things got tighter at HIH, we didn’t get any more support from the company, but Ray himself used to come to our fundraising fight nights and wouldn’t leave before handing us a check from his own funds. It’s what kept us going as we sought more stable patronage from the local community. We owe a lot to Ray.

And it wasn’t just the money. He was also the man. He was inspiring in his humility.

At the time of the first donation, we had a man in our church who worked as one of the main accountants in the public hospital system. “Oh yeah” he told me on Sunday. “If it weren’t for Ray Williams, half of Sydney’s hospitals could be closed.” And then added “But he never likes to have his name mentioned. He hates being the center of attention.”

We found this to be completely true. We managed to get him on stage once to present a trophy to one of our fighters, but it was a tough job. He really hated being in the spotlight. It’s one of the things that makes this Royal Commission so hateful to him.

I still can’t believe the way the media has hounded him, vociferously attacking him for his generosity to hospitals and charities. It’s not like you’re giving away money that should have gone to insurance claimants. If he hadn’t given it away, I suppose he would have slightly increased the dividend paid to shareholders, and he must have been one of the largest shareholders himself. It still seems absurd to me to think that the media should have acted with such self-righteousness outraged that the poor shareholders were losing potential revenue because they had gone to the children’s hospital. It’s just ridiculous.

But it wasn’t just the media that crucified Ray. Once the news of HIH’s collapse became public knowledge, former colleagues abandoned him, old friends and associates turned their backs on him, and suddenly the charities he had been supporting for years did not want to meet him. Ray had been on the board of Children’s Hospital for as long as no one could remember. They sent him a letter saying “Thank you, but your services are no longer needed.” Nobody waited for the results of the Royal Commission. No one waited to see if perhaps he was not the true villain of the piece. They all distanced themselves, not wanting their own reputation to be tarnished.

Seriously, I can’t understand that attitude. I know that I am capable of doing stupid and selfish things, but abandoning a partner in their time of need is not one of them. When I think of all the people Ray must have helped over the years, I can’t believe none of them thought to call him and tell him ‘How are you doing, Ray? Maybe it’s my turn to give you a little support?

Anyway, my point here is not to spit at my doll. And I’ll be the first to admit that I have no idea about big business, insurance laws, or anything like that. But I know a good man when I meet him, and Ray Williams is a good man and someone I am proud to call my friend. And it would bum me if I stand still and listen to people pour shit on a partner of mine without saying anything.

To be honest, I don’t expect Ray to fully regain his old reputation or position. I know too much about how the media works and how our judicial system works to ever hope for real justice. As with my friends Jim and Morde, I am not holding my breath waiting for the truth to come out. No. I will look to the day when the kingdom of this world becomes the kingdom of our Lord and Christ. When that day comes, all the garbage will be sorted out.