The following messages of condolence and symbols
have been added in memory of David.

I will always remember Uncle David for two distinct reasons.

Firstly, for the adventures he took Zac (my older brother) and I on when were children. As a child it seemed as though Uncle David was up for pretty much anything to do with the outdoors. He encouraged us to be brave and take risks, something that has shaped Zac and I to this day.

Secondly, I will always remember him for how intelligent he was. When I was completing my undergraduate degree, I had a law subject that I could not get my head around, I was very close to failing this particular subject. I emailed Uncle David and he kindly helped me understand the content in a way that made sense to me. He also helped me write a response to the question. I remember laughing with Uncle David once I received my results because Uncle David was at the top of his field and together, we had only received a credit. I know for sure that without Uncle David’s help I would have failed that subject.

I will remember him for his generosity of knowledge and willingness to help people who were in need of his skill set.

I'm nowhere near as clever as Uncle David but I hope to honour his memory by upholding his generous spirit.

Part 2
David led a very exciting life.
Escapades of youth with Phil, motor bike road trips on his own, a desert road trip with his Defender (and me), surfing trips with Jill, trips overseas with his family, Skiing, climbing mountains and riding rapids with friends, chasing Pumas in Patagonia for the perfect photo, a rough and tumble childhood in Ourimbah. The son of a missionary bricklayer. Schooled in a public school on the Central Coast, graduating in law and economics, winning at Sale of the Century, a successful lawyer, editor of a civil machinery magazine, farmer, labourer, Bushman, essayist, Army Reservist, skilled photographer and cook, national magazine columnist. Son, Brother, Friend. Husband. Dad. Especially Dad. Yes, David led a very exciting life.

But all those things only say so much about David.
I once said to him that his wit and insight reminded me of the satirist David Thorne. David took this as the highest compliment. I then suggested he also reminded me of Sheldon Cooper, a fictional particle physicist come polymath character in the TV series The Big Bang Theory. A comparison he was less fond of. Both are, of course, absurd comparisons. David is not like anyone I know. Yes, he knows a lot about a lot. Yes, he is one of the smartest most rational people I know. He also had a deep connection with wilderness, with justice and fairness. He was passionate and compassionate. He searched for knowledge, understanding, meaning and spirituality. He proudly clung to his bogan roots – he was anti-elitist. Perceptive. A leader. Tough. Organised. Brave. Immensely capable. Loyal. Assured. Dogged.

David and I were very different people. I used to think he was the type who didn’t tolerate fools easily. But he tolerated me – and I was pretty sure he considered me a bit of a fool. For a while it felt an arm’s length friendship. After living with him, I stopped worrying about what he thought of me, and I just accepted David. He became like a big brother - yet also a little brother. We spent hours together late at night watching the Wallabies play rugby in Europe. We played Doom via FTP across Sydney before the world wide web was a thing. We walked many miles together through the thickest bush and across the steepest valleys. We camped together, in remote locations and in the best and worst of weather. He taught me many things. He was there for me when I needed to get from Epping to Kensington in minutes, when someone wanted to push me around late at night on the streets of Sydney, when I was struggling emotionally, when I needed someone to help show me how to renovate a house, when I needed to be brought down a peg, when I had a planning application response to write. Or just a chat. He was generous with his knowledge and kind with his advice. He was funny, mischievous, and a good, decent, beautiful, complicated man. I loved him deeply. I will miss him dearly. Without him here the world makes a little less sense.

His favourite fare.
I don’t want to understate David’s own agency in his life’s journey, nor downplay the significance of and influences in his earlier years. When David first met Jill he was already pulling himself out of a difficult time in his life and there can be no doubting the importance of his upbringing and his early adult years in shaping him. However, Jills impact is profound. David would often say Jill gave him a new lease on life, that Jill was the best thing to ever happen to him. And I am in no doubt about both these things. In the wee hours of the morning, after a long boozy catchup or deep in the bush somewhere remote, he would talk about Jill, and then Jemma and Sam and Lucy and his demeanour changed. He was happy. Not the mischievous happiness of misbehaviour, or the exhilarated happiness of climbing a mountain. He was happy with a calmness that I only saw when he spoke about them. He was proud, he was in love. He adored everything about them. In these moments, all his sharp edges fell away.

David and I will go on no more hikes. There will be no more late night catch ups. I wont get that chance for him to teach me to ski. I will no longer hear him laugh. Deeper water always called to David and for much of that journey someone in this group of mourners was with him. We are lucky to have shared those moments with David and lucky to have those memories. David taught me the Sierra Clubs motto that when you hike in wilderness you are to leave nothing but footprints, take nothing but photos and keep nothing but memories. David has left this world, he took a lot of photos, and imprinted himself on so many people. He may not have mastered bowling, but he had a fine innings. Goodbye old mate.

David is not your average bear. And as one of his favourite musicians is Humphrey B Flaubert, I have a theme…
David was a funny old fellow.
Some are of the opinion David was an athlete. Well, athleticism did not come naturally to David. A young David was a bow-legged gaggle of limbs which combined to create a cricket spin bowling action too ridiculous to describe. Things only got worse on release of the ball which rarely bounced on the pitch. David was not to be deterred and he bowled and bowled and bowled and bowled. Not embarrassed. A little frustrated. And very determined.

He did become more coordinated. He took up Judo and played an improving game of what we called “combat squash”. Yet some things do not change. An enduring image both my wife Amelia and I have of David was on a camping trip with Jill and our young children at the Pink Lakes of Murray Sunset National Park. We recall a faraway solitary bow legged silhouette surrounded by the white of the salt lake. David was unmistakable up close and at a distance.

He was a funny man. He liked to laugh and smile. In Year 12, the future accountant joked that his relationship with his school sweetheart was serious because they had memorised each other’s Tax File Numbers. This made him laugh more than those he told but… well, his laugh was so enjoyable. I lived with David in his house in Newtown when he was going through a difficult time of his life. I hoped it would help him to have some annoying company to put up with and I would often try to lighten the mood to make him laugh. One day I hired the comedy movie Black Cat White Cat. “It isn’t a foreign language arthouse movie is it!” he said concerned. He sunk into the couch; arms folded, lips pressed. David had a way of acquiescing whilst letting you know how grumpy he was about it. But he gave it a chance and laugh he did.

David was fastidious in preparation for our hikes and gave me tips including the benefits of tubed sweetened condensed milk and cutting off the handle of the toothbrush to save space and weight. I, on the other hand, was not so well organised but was keen to impress and humour David. After a hard days hike and a horrendously windy night of camping in the wild David woke to see me preparing breakfast for us both. He watched as I pulled out of my pack a large amount of bacon I had kept cool with an icebrick, eggs and tomato protected in Tupperware, pepper grinder and some fresh basil. I then pulled out a large heavy based frypan to cook it all in. His laughter echoed down the Grose valley. “Well done that man!” he would say before telling me that I wasn’t using the tea bags properly and explained the science behind correct steeping.

When I suspected his navigation skills were not as good as he claimed I asked if we were lost. He insisted (with a huge smile) that he was NEVER lost. Merely that his ‘perceived location was temporarily spatially dislocated from his actual location’. Early in our hiking adventures David instituted a rule that every sentence we spoke on the hikes MUST contain at least two swear words. And they had to be bad ones. This amused him no end.

David got in all manner of strife.
One of David’s favourite movie scenes was a wild looking Daniel Day Lewis running at full speed through the forest. Like the Mohicans, David was a bit wild. David was a bit rough. David was also a bit wicked. When David acted on his wickedness, it delighted him immensely. My strongest memory of my teenage years is David and his regular accomplice, Phil Lovelock, grinning ear to ear after some mischievous adventure; purchasing underage alcohol, hunting imaginary monsters in the bush with bow and arrow, escaping from sharks when spear fishing. As recently as August David would still be regaling me with his teenage adventures.

In high school, David ran away from home. He didn’t run to a friends house, or to hide away in the bush nearby. That is way too pedestrian. David ran away 600km, to Tenterfield.

When I needed to quickly get from Epping to the University of NSW to hand in a thesis, he dropped what he was doing, rode over to my place, shoved me on the back of his motorbike, told me to hold on and “be the bike”. The next 15 minutes was a blur of traffic violations.

Many years ago, David and I went camping with our partners to Dharug National Park. We went for a leisurely afternoon stroll up to the escarpment, heard lyrebirds, saw ancient etchings of emu and kangaroo, had a nice picnic. And watched the sunset across the Hawkesbury River. Then we came across a cliff. With the light almost gone David helped control his and our fears as he led us around the cliff to find a way down. There were drops where we couldn’t see the bottom and he would slide down more in hope than certainty and, finding ground would guide us down after him. After seeming hours of this, in pitch blackness we stumbled, scratched and sore, back to camp.
Part 2 to follow.

Dear Jill, Jemma, Sam and Lucy,

I am deeply saddened to hear of David’s passing. Please accept my sincere and heartfelt condolences.

I had the privilege of working for David for about 4 years at Norton Rose. I left in 2015 and since then we stayed in contact, mostly to discuss tv shows and other things, but more recently David would generously give me guidance in relation to my own career.

David was a compassionate boss, a brilliant lawyer, a fierce litigator, an exceptional mentor and an all round great guy. David was always generous with his time and knowledge and was always kind. A testament to his integrity.

David was highly regarded and one of the most intelligent people I have had the pleasure of meeting. David could recite countless pieces of legislation and was an excellent draftsman. He never wasted words, was incredibly measured and articulate but could cut like a knife when required. I use many of his go-to sentences in my drafting now. I enjoyed discussing legal strategy with David and would consider it a compliment when he would tell me my evilness was coming along nicely. The irony was we had a job to do that often required frontal assault and an element of aggression, a game David played incredibly well, but personally David was the opposite.

David would ask graduate lawyers on rotation what they knew about insolvency and the corporations act, and as the grads were blushing and bumbling he would put them immediately at ease and talk enthusiastically about the law and would reassure them that there was nothing that could not be fixed by affidavit.

I considered David a friend. I am heartbroken to hear of his passing. I hope you find some comfort, amid what must be inexplicable grief, in the knowledge that he was highly regarded and loved by many.

Ali Erskine

Ps this photo is David holding my son Rory X

To dear Jill, Jemma, Sam and Lucy,
Having never met David, it was so amazing to see him through your eyes today. He leaves behind a treasure trove of beautiful memories for you all. A son, husband, father and friend who had an adventurous spirit, a wicked sense of humour, a warm soul and a deep passion for his family.

The sentiments shared today reflect a life well lived. I imagine that David's wish for you would be that your dreams stay big. Just like his.

As devastating as losing him is for all of you, I hope you find peace knowing that he is free from torment and that he finally has been showered in God's eternal peace.

I am deeply sorry for your loss. Continue to play that music loud and cherish the beautiful imagery he captured of your time with him.
Lots of love to you all.
Martine

To Jill, Jemma, Sam and Lucy, we are so sorry for your loss and the pain you are going through. We know it will be hard but please know God is carrying you all in his hands and he has put many friends around you to help support you and just be with you to help you feel his love. We are here for anything you need, at any time. Please just say the word! With love & God Bless, from Kim and Grace Nadalin. xx

Dear Jill, Jemma, Sam and Lucy,

We are so saddened to hear of David's passing, it is difficult to express our sorrow for you all. We always enjoyed David's company, whether at work, socially, or running around the Glen Iris parks. He had a brilliant intellect, a wonderful sense of humour and most of all he loved his family. A man with so much going for him.

Chris loved working with David, his calm and confident presence and hearing him speak with such joy and pride of his children and of his love of his time spent at Harrietville.

We still remember having dinner at your house many years ago. David cooked salmon for our kids and it was the first time they had eaten it. We weren't sure how this would go but our kids loved David's cooking and they have loved salmon ever since.

Jill, your strength through these difficult times is an inspiration. We hope that you can find some peace in the knowledge that David is now at rest. All of our thoughts are with you, Jemma, Sam and Lucy at this terribly sad time.

Much love from Christine, Richard, Charlotte, Olivia and Pippa Harris

Dear Jill, Jemma, Sam and Lucy. Our deepest condolences to you all for the loss of David. Although we did not have time to get to know him well, we learnt so much of his full life in the beautiful celebration you held today. Our thoughts are with you all. Much love, Georgina, Steve, Charlotte and Pippa xxx

I always looked up to David. He was the cool older cousin who always had time for me. I loved just hanging out at his house at Ourimbah with him at family events or when I stayed over during school holidays. One of my strongest memories with him was holding on to him for dear life as we sped about on his bike through backstreets near his house. His wicked sense of humour and quick witted come backs are something I will always remember. I thankful to God for having had him in my life- so many great memories.

Dear Jill, Jemma, Sam and Lucy,
Sincere condolences on the loss of your much loved husband and Dad.
Praying for peace beyond all understanding during this time. We know that we will see our family in Heaven and what a reunion that will be- when all the mess is gone and just joy remains.
You have been an amazing wife and mother Jill- what a role model you are to your family and your girlfriends at New Hope too?!?!?
Love you guys.

Simone Nardella

Dear Jill, Jemma, Sam and Lucy. Our deepest condolences to you all for the loss of David. May he rest in peace. Our thoughts are with you all. Much love, Melissa. x

David
To quote Clare Bowditch “Grief is … hard to give away because it’s the last thing you gave to me”
May this next journey bring you peace.
Eily xo

Dearest Jill, Jemma, Sam & Lucy - so deeply sorry for the loss of your husband and dad. Although I didn’t know David well I remember him as such a capable, knowledgeable & creative person. Rest in peace David. And sending each of you so much love & strength now & in the times ahead xxxxx

Dearest Jillian, Jemma, Sam and Lucy, my thoughts and prayers are with you all at this very sad time.

It was a joy to welcome David into our family at your wedding in December 2002. What a beautiful wedding. Jillian you and David enjoyed many camping trips together. In December 2004 Jemma was born, followed by Sam in 2006 and Lucy in 2008.

David loved his children dearly and taught them many life skills. He was a great cook and our family enjoyed his many dishes and delicious cakes.
We will greatly miss David at our family gatherings but we can cherish many memories of his life taken away from us so suddenly.

May God comfort you at this sad time and bring His peace.

Rest in peace David.

Alexandra Auterson

Thoughts and prayers with Davids family and friends at this tragic time, may there be hope where none seems possible. I have so many fond memories of my childhood growing up with David, we had a ball learning to surf as young teens - awesome times at the beach and travelling together. They only grow fonder with time. God Bless all.

Dear Jill, Jemma, Sam and Lucy

I am very sad to hear of David’s death.

I had the pleasure of knowing and working with David from 2007 when I started as a graduate solicitor in his team at Norton Rose Fulbright.

David was an absolute legend. He left a big hole in the team when he left NRF. He was an incredible mentor and teacher, always willing to give his time to patiently explain the workings of the law to me. He was a wealth of knowledge (on a huge range of things!) and had a ridiculous knack of citing cases from hundreds of years ago when making a point. Thanks to David, the principle in Foakes v Beer and Hofstader’s Law will forever be burned into my memory!

More importantly, David was a pleasure to know. I will remember his distinctive laugh, his self professed inability to hold a drink, his humour and the way he happily held my daughter on his lap and chatted over coffee when he came to visit me on maternity leave in 2017. He will be on my mind anytime an unfair preference claim comes my way.

We are thinking of you all and of David.

Karli Cibich

Hi Jill, Jemma, Sam and Lucy,

My thoughts are with you at this difficult time. I am very saddened to hear of David's passing.

I still remember the first day I started working for David as his assistant in 2007. He took me out for coffee and told me how much he disliked office gossip. Fast forward a few years and if he ever caught wind of me knowing any office gossip he would demand I go into his office and tell him! I loved reminding him of that first coffee! I really enjoyed working for him as we had the same inappropriate sense of humour.

I remember the glow in his eyes when he spoke about his family and what you had got up to on weekends or on holidays.

I loved listening to him discuss/debate the law with colleagues, he had such passion. I always thought he was one of the smartest people I know.

I will miss our catch-ups and TV recommendations. Unfortunately I was never able to bring him over to the dark side that is reality TV.

Such good memories.

Norah Xx

To Jill, Sam and all of David’s family,
Sending our love and heartfelt sympathy at this difficult time.
The boys certainly loved spending time with David. He was a great role model for them and they had such fun with him when they were together in Harrietsville.
He was a great person to be with and I’m very upset I won’t be able to continue bonding and getting to know him more.

Dear Jill
I am a Perth Partner of Norton Rose Fulbright but worked closely with David and Steve on a number of matters over the years he was with the firm. It is incredibly sad to hear of his passing. Others have spoken of his amazing intellect and ability and he was one of those people you were always reassured by when was on your team on any difficult matter because he had rare legal gifts. He was also a fun guy with whom you could share a laugh and enjoy humorous situations together. But high sensitivity often comes with high intelligence and it can make dealing with those demons difficult despite the love and support of his family. My sincere condolences to you and your family.

Dear Jill - we haven’t met but I worked with David at Deacons / Norton Rose for many years. He was an extraordinary lawyer, possessed of an incredible intellect wrapped up in endless practicality. And he was a truly good guy to work with - more than once he very patiently explained this of that complexity to me, and I always enjoyed my time with him, professionally and socially. Our children are a similar age, and he often spoke incredibly fondly of his kids, and he was obviously very proud of them. I was incredibly saddened to hear of David’s passing, and my thoughts are with you and the kids.

Dylan McKimmie.

Dear Jill, we are deeply saddened by David’s passing and by all the difficult times which preceded it.

David was a brilliant lawyer and a loyal and dependable colleague and friend. His clarity of thought and expression made difficult topics approachable. The wise heads in our team still know to search for advice prepared by David on tracing, or equitable compensation, or anything else which is tricky. We remember the spirited debates which we had when we disagreed on legal or social issues, and all of the laughs we had whilst disagreeing. We also remember the laughs we had, over a beer or a glass of red, about the various absurdities in the world. We have missed David since he left our team, and we will miss him all the more now. For a man who so effectively solved other people’s problems for a living, the cruel paradox of his mental health challenges was an issue which we also talked about, and laughed about, but which was no laughing matter.

We hope that his sense of humour, and mischief and his amazing determination has had a positive impact on Jemma, Sam and Lucy, and that those wonderful attributes that drew us all to David, live on in them. Our thoughts are with you all.

Rest In Peace, David.

Steve Palmer and Fiona Murray-Palmer.

Dear Jillian,

We were shocked and saddened to hear of David’s recent passing.

He was a lifetime member of the Liberal Democratic Party and had been a much loved part of the Liberal Democrats family since 2017. He was a principled and committed voice for liberty throughout the Covid restrictions of the last two years.

We are deeply grateful that he volunteered his legal expertise and towering intellect to help us in recent townhalls and events. Needless to say, he is irreplaceable and will be very much missed as a party member.

On a personal level, my husband and I very much enjoyed getting to know David and are saddened that our relatively new friendship has been cut so tragically short. What struck us about David was the great humour and wit with which he made a stand for what he believed in. He not only did what was right, he infused it with fun and a little mischief along with way.

Please accept our deepest sympathies at this difficult time but always know that his legacy will live on.

Alice Clay
Liberal Democrats, Victorian President

To Jill, Jemma, Samuel and Lucinda.

We are so sorry for your loss and we are thinking of you all at this sad time.
With our deepest sympathy.

From,
Andrea, Peter, Matthew and Cameron Itowski.

Dave, we shared many great adventures and times together…. As well as many injuries. The first day I met you we argued about outdoor equipment and it was then that I realised we would be good friends. We had some crazy times together such as the whitewater kayak incident that left you scarred for life, but better looking. The time we were accosted by greenies fishing at Dibbins hut. Hiking from Hotham to Kosi which after sharing a tent with you for a few nights let me realise that Jill is either deaf or a very very heavy sleeper. It came as no surprise to me that our mountain biking in Bright would end up with one of us in hospital.
You took me out on my 40th when no-one else would and you were there for me after the 2020 fires. You were a good friend to me and I wish more than anything that I could have been a better friend to you. You have three beautiful children and an incredible wife that will miss you forever as will we all. Your spirit of adventure was inspiring and will surely flow through your loved ones. The world is a lesser place without you. Rest In Peace my friend.