The hanging of Ray Williams - Part 3

The Hanging

Ray's sentencing took place on Friday, April 15, 2005.

In the month or so between Ray's hearing and his sentencing a lot happened, to me at any rate. For one thing, I found out for myself the circumstances that had determined the collapse of HIH. It was quite bizarre. I never expected, nor felt I needed to know, the intricacies of what led to the crumbling of the once mighty insurance empire. This wasn't because the collapse meant nothing to me. Indeed, I too had been affected by it. At the time HIH fell, Ange and I were being sued by a guy who broke his leg in a wrestling class (see that story here) and we found ourselves uninsured and facing possible bankruptcy.

For Ray's sake also, I had tried to educate myself on the situation, reading the papers and working my way through one enormous book written on the collapse of HIH. I knew the key to the collapse had been HIH's purchase of FAI. They had paid far too much for it, apparently unaware of some significant liabilities that for some reason didn't come to light until after FAI had been sold. Even so, my interest was more in the man, Ray Williams, than in his business.

Then I stumbled upon the truth quite fortuitously. It came about because a friend of mine, totally unrelated to Ray, had been associated with another major player in the HIH drama. This friend phoned me up one day and told me this key player had been looking for a priest to confess to. I have to keep it vague like this, as I'm told that even now, this person or others involved in the drama could still use any clear statements I make not only to sue me but to get themselves acquitted if they are ever brought to trial. I don't know whether this would really happen or not, but I have so little faith in our legal system, I have no desire to put the matter to the test.

Anyway, to cut a long story short, I didn't personally take the confession, but I did find out what happened. Let's just say when HIH bought FAI, things had been deliberately covered up and money had changed hands. One of the key players financed the cover-up, another brokered the deal and Ray had been kept completely in the dark.

When I took these details to Ray, he told me he'd already worked this out. He told me he'd initially been perplexed as to why one of his former key associates had produced such a damning testimony against him during the Royal Commission into the HIH collapse. A testimony he said was full of lies. Then it clicked to him that this guy must have been covering up something himself.

I said to Ray, "But now we know the truth, isn't there someone we can tell?"

"No," said Ray. "The truth is not going to do us any good at this stage."

Again, this highlights the nature of our legal system. Truth is never really an issue. The legal game is a boxing match, fought out between two opponents, with the judge acting as referee. Truth is an extraneous extra party. It really has no place in the judicial ring.

Looking back, Ray never stood a chance. He was a lightweight taking on a heavyweight without a conscience: the Australian Government. That heavyweight had the Australian media working their corner. Never was the mismatch clearer than on the day of Ray's sentencing.

I turned up to court feeling optimistic. I'm embarrassed to admit that now, but the hearing had been so exceptional and I figured in the end the judge was a human being and had to be affected. Besides that, I'd been saying plenty of prayers, as had the good people of our parish, and surely that should amount to something.

I entered the court building, looking for the private room near the foyer where I knew Ray would be gathering with his friends and family. To my surprise, though, I found Ray standing outside the door of the room with a sobbing woman in his arms.

One of the legal persons motioned me to pass by. I figured this must be another former employee or loyal friend who was mourning Ray's dilemma. I wondered why she wasn't joining us in the private room. Then I found out who she was.

Apparently, this woman had lost her house through the collapse of HIH and had been turning up on every occasion Ray had appeared publicly, releasing anger to the media and asking for an apology. Ray had always been publicly apologetic for any involvement he'd had in the HIH collapse, but he hadn't spoken personally to this woman on those occasions. His legal people had strongly warned him against it. They'd advised against it that day too, but Ray had overruled them.

Looking back, it was like a scene out of the New Testament. This woman came, full of anger and frustration. Ray touched her, spoke tenderly to her and she went away healed.

The scene that followed, inside the private room, was equally touching. Evidently, the legal team had a premonition for what was about to happen, as they were each shaking Ray's hand very warmly and saying what a privilege it had been to represent him. The family was a little more subdued. I suspect they, like me, were still hopeful.

I asked Ray if I could have a picture taken with him, as I'd realised that morning we'd never had one taken together. I've got it here. My eyes are full of naive optimism. Ray, I think, was more aware of what was coming.

It didn't take long. The judge spoke eloquently. He acknowledged:

• Ray's criminal negligence did not involve any deliberate deception on his part.
• Ray's actions were not the result of any desire for personal gain.
• These negligences did not necessarily have anything to do with the collapse of HIH.
• Ray not only had no prior convictions, but had led an exemplary life to this point.
• He had an outstanding record of community service, especially towards youth.
• He had received the Order of Australia for his service to the Australian community.
• Ray had already suffered enormously on account of the collapse of HIH.
• Ray was clearly very sorry for what had happened.
• There was no chance of Ray ever re-offending.

Then the judge sentenced Ray to a harsher term of imprisonment than even his enemies had envisaged: four and a half years, with a non-parole period of two years and nine months. I was aghast. The sentence just didn't fit.

The proper conclusion to the judge's preamble would have been to impose a suspended sentence or something like that. It was as if someone had got hold of his judgment before he read it out, scribbled out the last line, and inserted this abominable sentence in its place. It just didn't make any sense.

Ray was led away. The family gathered around his mother. I staggered out onto the street, where someone shoved a microphone into my face, asking for a comment. I told them I believed it was a grave injustice. They weren't interested. "But is he going to appeal?"

I found my car and drove away. Our state premier was already on the radio, saying Ray's sentence was “A good result for all Australians”. Or something like that. None of this made any sense.

I got home but Ange was out. I rang the only other bloke I could think of whom I could debrief with. It was the same mate who had earlier told me about the former HIH executive who had been looking to make a confession. I figured he'd help me make sense of it.

The sentence had come as no surprise to him. Indeed, he told me he'd been informed a week earlier exactly what the sentence was going to be, by a friend of his who was high up in the state government. He said, "Your judge received his instructions straight from the top." Well, at least it all made sense now.

So, now it's all over and Ray is in prison. The media have moved on. The scapegoat has been slaughtered and the general public has had its righteous anger duly sated.

Now I hear some leading figures in the Australian Securities and Investment Commission are saying that, in their opinion, HIH should never actually have been declared insolvent. They aren't saying it too loudly of course, as it doesn't make much sense to question whether there was ever a crime committed after the hangings have already taken place.

This re-evaluation squares completely with Ray's belief. To his dying day, Ray will believe if he'd been left in charge of HIH, he would have steered the company through those troubled waters that preceded the purchase of FAI. Unfortunately, lesser men than Ray took the helm in HIH's last year of operation and chose to abandon ship rather than risk going down with the wreck.

Here's my summation of the matter, for what it's worth.

Ray Williams is the greatest leader I have ever met. In a land that has very few true leaders, Ray was a dynamo of industry, a man of initiative and integrity, who loved his team, was always true to his word, was thoroughly honest in all his dealings and who developed HIH insurance from being a two-person operation to becoming one of the largest insurers in the southern hemisphere.

Frankly, Ray is the only leader I have ever met whom I would willingly follow into battle. To my way of thinking, Ray bears a striking resemblance to one of my historic heroes - Confederate General Robert E.Lee. Lee was also a man of principle and compassion and a great leader. Like Ray, Lee is a man who will always be best remembered for losing his greatest battle. The key point of difference, though, is Lee's people did not hang him for his mistakes.