In recent years Smith has been operating out of a floating “ war bunker ”, an apartment supplied free of charge by supporters in a recently completed tower block in the Darwin CBD . As each apartment was fitted out, he moved to another incomplete one . Stacked about the apartment on bookshelves and on tables were files, court transcripts , a donated photocopier , packets of biscuits and jars of coffee which sustained frequent bouts of burning the midnight oil . Overlooking the military operation in the bunkers was a framed picture with replicas of the medals awarded to a relative , Lieutenant -Colonel Henry William Murray ,V.C., Australia’s most decorated WW1 veteran , who has inspired Smith in his battle for justice.
Smith and Ted Dean , 53, directors of Territory Sheet Metal , sued the ANZ for allegedly breaching its fudiciary duty and the Trade Practices Act by failing in l997 to make proper inquiries about conman Anthony Lionel Godwin , who joined the plaintiffs in a proposed new development project , claiming non - existent assets and using devious methods to obtain loans and documents. Appearing for the plaintiffs, Darrell Trim , QC , told court “alarm bells ” were rung by an Adelaide -based credit manager in October l997 about Godwin, but the bank did not inform Smith or Dean . Furthermore, if the bank had made a proper credit check it would have discovered that Godwin had no assets and had been bankrupted in l993.
Trim also said it was “inexcusable “ that the bank failed to tell them when further “discrepencies ” in Godwin’s information arose during the loan process , or when two substantial cheques were issued , despite the bank harbouring “significant concerns”.
As a result , in l998 , Smith and Dean were forced to sell their homes and other assets to cover a $940,000 debt to the ANZ, mainly comprised of a loan and monies drawn by Godwin . Territory Sheet Metal was forced into liquidation. Patents for roofing and other building devices here and the US sought by Smith, an inventor, had to be relinquished . The Taxation Department demanded payment of a large sum , but a stay was put on this claim until after the outcome of the court case.
In 2002 , Godwin, who at the age of 13 had been named the NT Junior Sportsman of the Year , was sentenced to 12 years’ jail with a non-parole term of six years for his actions. In 2005 , Godwin, still in prison, was also convicted on three counts of stealing a total of $312,000 from the Territory Insurance Office in 2000 , scams which involved a woman accomplice who worked in the TIO, while he was on bail pending the outcome of the previous cases . His aggregate imprisonment was increased to l5 years and the new parole period raised to seven and a half years.
Gathering evidence and information for the case against the bank has been a roller coaster ride for the plaintiffs. While attempting to obtain details about how Godwin had been able to bluff officers in various departments to obtain documents and enter false information in NT Government computers, Smith came up against a brickwall .
In desperation , he wrote a letter to the then Chief Minister of the Northern Territory, Denis Burke ,in whose electorate he lived, weighed it down , and tossed it over the fence of his home. In it he wished the Chief Minister and his family all the best for Christmas , but asked him to consider the plight of the families deceived by Godwin . He asked for access to the information contained in a department for which Burke had ministerial responsibility. A legal excuse was given for not complying with that request.
When the case got underway ,Smith found he was liable for nearly $15 a page for court transcripts . With the case likely to involve thousands of pages , he was up for a fortune, which he could not afford, so he made a special application to the court to set aside the charge, which it did, pending the outcome.
In what he describes as a “ fluke”, similar to the now classic Australian film , The Castle, in which a battler fought to save his house from compulsory acquisition, getting legal advice from a person he met , they ended up with an impressive legal team. Smith was doing a building job for a person in Darwin who, on hearing of Smith’s troubles, recommended an Adelaide legal firm who had handled a case for him.
Following that advice , an Adelaide barrister was engaged , but he became ill and by chance it was handed over to Adelaide barrister Roger Sallis , of Michael Kirby Chambers , a kick boxing exponent, whose office is decorated with photographs of Thai kick boxing champions and there are kicking pads and gloves. He brought in Darrel Trim, QC, from Torrens Chambers, who in the past has defended banks . In fact, during a video link from Darwin to Adelaide, Mr Justice Olsson pointed out that Trim was sitting at the bar table in the position usually occupied by the defendant , not the plaintiff.
Waiting anxiously for the outcome, David Smith said his struggle was nothing compared to what Lieutenant Colonel William Murray , related on the paternal side, faced during the war. Born in Launceston , Tasmania , on December 1, l880, he helped run the family farm, went to Western Australia at the age of l9 and worked as a mail courier on the goldfields, riding about on a pushbike and horse with a rifle for protection Working as a timber cutter in the railways , he enlisted as a private in the AIF and landed at Gallipoli on April 25,l915 as a member of the l6th Battalion’s two machine gun crews. Wounded several times, he spent time in hospital , was promoted to lance corporal on May 13 and won the Distinguished Conduct Medal for his bravery between May 9-13. Wounded again on July 8 , he was rapidly promoted to a sergeant and then commissioned second lieutenant and transferred to the l3th battalion. By March l916 he had reached the rank of captain .
With the 13th Battalion in France he received the Distinguished Service Order fighting at Mouquet Farm where he was twice wounded. In February of next year he led his company’s attack on Stormy Trench and in almost 24 hours constant fighting , repelled counter attacks , fought in merciless close quarter battles, all under intense shell fire , About 230 members of the Battalion were killed in the fight and Murray won the Victoria Cross. In March l918 he was promoted to lieutenant colonel and given command of the 4th Machine Gun Battalion .
David Smith has been to Townsville to see Murray’s son and learn more about his brave father who had a grazing property at Richmond , Queensland . His complete medal collection , which includes the CMG and Croix de Guerre is intact and in a bank security vault. Murray died on January 7, l966 after a car accident at Miles, Queensland.
Smith was born Canberra l960 and with his teacher father was to have moved to Darwin , but Cyclone Tracy struck in l974 and destroyed the house they were to live in, so they were diverted to Brisbane . They finally made it to Darwin in l976. Currently Smith, still in the sheet metal trade, is working on plans for a documentary about the time the rugby league team, Brothers, in which he was the lock, won the l984 Darwin premiership.
