We wouldn’t be able to do any of the stuff we do with kids if it
wasn’t for the support we get from local business people in our
community. This is not a shameless plug for our sponsors, just
recognition of the fact that whatever we’ve been able to achieve
in Dulwich Hill has been a team effort between church and
community.
People often ask me, "I suppose the church pays for all this, do
they". I tell them straight, that our little church in Dulwich
Hill has never been able to properly afford even the minimum wage
for their priest, and that the Church with a capital ‘C’ (ie. the
Anglican Diocese of Sydney) has contributed next to nothing. No.
Almost all our support comes from the three local pubs - the
Gladstone, the Royal Exchange, and the Henson Park Hotel - and
from the local RSL club (Petersham). The rest of it we pick up
through the Christians vs. Lions fight nights we put on, and
through other community events (eg. the Mayor’s golf day, the
annual community Street Fair, etc.).
It wasn’t always this easy. In the early years we really
struggled to keep the Youth Centre open. Then we caught the
attention of one corporate benefactor, who was able to keep us
going long enough for us to put the other support in place. That
benefactor was Ray Williams, former chief executive of HIH
insurance - one of the most gentle, caring, and humble men I have
ever met, and currently one of the least popular men in the
country.
It amazes me when I think about it. Some of the best people I
have ever met are people with terrible reputations. In each case
of course their reputations have been largely media-generated.
When my mate Jim got shot, one of the major Sydney newspapers ran
story entitled "Evil Villain Gunned Down". It featured a picture
of Jim carrying an automatic weapon. The picture had been taken
many years earlier during Jim’s time with the Australian Army. I
thought ‘You bastards! That’s not the man I know.’
When Morde was on trail in Israel I read a variety of articles
that spoke about him as being a sophisticated spy - working for
the Arabs and out to destroy his country. I thought ‘You
bastards! You have no idea who you are talking about.’
Now I read stories about Ray - about how he manipulated the
market to line his own pockets and how he deliberately defrauded
millions of people, and I think again ‘You bastards’.
Ray was sent by God to help us. I have no doubt about that. I
first met him through a fight I took, though Ray himself was no
fan of boxing.
The story of that fight was in itself quite bizarre.
I had been sitting with the Archdeacon in my office one
afternoon. He was wagging his finger at me and telling me that
I’d have to close down the Youth Centre. "You just don’t have
enough money to keep it going" he said. And he was right. We were
exactly $1000 short of being able to pay our youth worker’s wage
for the next month. I was feeling rather nonchalant about it all
and was telling him to have more faith. At exactly that moment
Kon, my trainer, came to the door.
"Dave, do you want to take a pro fight?" he asked. "No" was my
knee-jerk reaction. I’d just completed my fight career (I’d
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 and nine months
at that stage. "How much are they offering?" I asked Kon. "$1000"
he said. I told him I’d take it. We raised close to $50,000 for
the Youth Centre through that fight. More than half of that money
came through Ray.
A guy by the name of Jeff Wells wrote an article about my fight
that was published in the Sydney Morning Herald one Saturday.
After that, cheques for as much as $1000 started arriving in the
mail! Then one morning a courier turned up with two cheques - one
for $10,000 in the name of HIH insurance, and another for $15,000
in the name of a Mr R. Williams. I remember trembling when I
received these cheques. I’d never seen that much money before in
my life.
I had never heard of Ray Williams, but his business card was
attached, so I rang the number and got one of those classic
receptionist voices, saying "Mr Williams is busy at the moment.
Can I take a message?" Then I mentioned my name and all of a
sudden I was speaking to Ray.
"Ah... hi... do I know you?" I started. "No. I don’t think so,"
he said. "You’ve just sent me cheques for $25,000" I said. "Yes"
he said. "Um... are you a local from around here? Have you been
watching our work?" I asked. "No" he said. "Well... are you
connected with the church or with youth work around here?" "No"
he said. "Well... are you a fight fan?" I asked, scratching for
some point of connection. "Not at all" he said. "I read an
article about you in the Herald and it looked like you needed
some help." "Yeah, I do" I said. "Well, will that help?" he
asked. "Oh yeah" I said, "that’ll help."
That’s how our relationship began. Over the years that followed
Ray took a keen interest in our work. As things at HIH became
tighter, we didn’t receive any further support from the company,
but Ray himself would generally turn up to our fundraiser fight
nights, and he wouldn’t leave before slipping us a cheque from
out of his own funds. It’s what kept us going while we searched
for more stable sponsorship from the local community. We owe a
lot to Ray.
And it wasn’t just the money. It was the man too. He was
inspiring in his humility.
At the time of the first donation we had a guy in our church who
worked as one of the chief accountants in the public hospital
system. "Oh yeah" he said to me one Sunday. "If it wasn’t for Ray
Williams, half the hospitals in Sydney might be closed." And then
he added "but he never likes to have his name mentioned. He hates
the limelight"
We found this to be entirely 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 at the centre of attention. It’s
one of the things that makes this Royal Commission so odious to
him.
I still can’t believe the way the media have gone after him -
vigorously attacking him for his generosity to hospitals and
charities. It’s not as if he was giving away money that should
have gone to insurance claimants. If he hadn’t given it away, I
guess it would have slightly increased the dividend paid to the
shareholders, and he himself must have been one of the largest
shareholders. I still find it preposterous to think that the
media should have acted so self-righteously indignant about the
fact that the poor shareholders were losing potential income
because it had gone to the children’s hospital. It’s just
ridiculous.
But it wasn’t only the media that crucified Ray. Once the news
about HIH’s collapse became public knowledge, former colleagues
deserted him, old friends and associates turned their backs on
him, and charities that he’d been supporting for years all of a
sudden didn’t want to know him. Ray had been on the board of the
Children’s Hospital for as long as anybody could remember. They
sent him a letter saying ‘thank you but your services are no
longer required’. Nobody waited for the results of the Royal
Commission. Nobody waited to see if perhaps he wasn’t the real
villain in the piece. Everyone distanced themselves, not wanting
their own reputations to be tarnished.
I seriously can’t understand that attitude. I know I’m capable of
doing some stupid and selfish things, but deserting a mate in his
time of need is not one of them. When I think about all the
people that Ray must have helped over the years, I just can’t
believe that none of them thought to ring him up and say ‘How are
you going, Ray. Perhaps it’s my turn to give you some support?’
Anyway, my point here is not to spit my dummy. And I’ll be the
first to admit that I don’t have a clue about big business,
insurance laws, or anything of the sort. But I know a good man
when I meet one, and Ray Williams is a good man and someone whom
I’m proud to call my friend. And I’ll be buggered if I’m going
stand by and listen to people pouring crap out on a mate of mine
without saying anything.
To be truthful, I don’t expect that Ray will ever fully regain
his former reputation or standing. I know too much about how the
media works and about how our court system works to ever expect
real justice. As with my friends Jim and Morde, I’m not holding
my breath waiting for the truth to come out. No. I’ll look to the
day when the kingdom of this world will become the kingdom of our
Lord and Christ. When that day comes, all the crap will be sorted
out.
About the Author
'Fighting' Father Dave Smith - Parish Priest, community worker,professional fighter, father of three. Dave is the only Australian in Holy Orders to turn pro boxer to help fund his work. He is Parish Priest in Dulwich Hill, Sydney,and has received numerous awards for his work with young people
Get a free preview of his book, 'Sex, the Ring & the Eucharist' when you sign up for Dave's newsletter at www.fatherdave.org