By HARRY CLARKE
PHRASES like “mixed emotions” and “bittersweet” won’t fully summarise the feelings of Wieambilla residents today, as they gather to mark both the first anniversary of its darkest day and also a milestone for the community’s pride and joy.
December 12 will forever be remembered as a day of madness and tragedy, when last year two local police officers and a Wieambilla resident were killed in an act of terror that sent shockwaves around the world.
Tara police constables Rachel McCrow and Matthew Arnold were gunned down by murderous conspiracy theorists Gareth, Nathaniel and Stacey Train when the officers entered the Trains’ property, in response to a missing person report that had been issued for Nathaniel Train.
The Trains then killed neighbour Alan Dare, who came to the property to investigate, before being neutralised about 10pm in a shootout with specialist police.
Wieambilla changed overnight – from being a secluded bushland community enjoyed by residents for its peace and privacy, to a household name around Australia.
But a small brass plaque on the wall of a quaint brick building in Wieambilla reminds residents that December 12 also marks the establishment of its most cherished community asset.
The Wieambilla South Country Club, a combined local pub, restaurant, camp ground, meeting place and community centre, today celebrates its 25th anniversary.
The building was opened by Don Whiteman, mayor of the former Tara Shire Council, on December 12, 1998, and was built with funding from the Wieambilla and wider Tara community, and from the Jupiters Community Benefit Fund.
President and life member Tony Kelly said the Wieambilla South Country Club had become the “heart and soul” of the community, where residents came to connect, socialise, and receive support.
“There’s a lot of history and a lot of good memories here,” Kelly said.
“Wieambilla people can come here, have a drink, dance, sing some karaoke, relax and socialise. We have a folk festival each year and all sorts of celebrations. This weekend we have our Christmas party.”
As well as being somewhere for locals to let their hair down, the Wieambilla South Country Club is also a place residents facing hardship know they will receive help, most recently during the bushfires which swept through the area in October.
The adjoining community hall is packed with clothing, bedding, furniture and appliances donated by Good Samaritans around Australia to help Wieambilla residents who lost everything get back on their feet.
By December 13 last year – the day after the shooting – donation boxes had been set up to support the families of Rachel McCrow, Matthew Arnold and Alan Dare.
Asked about how the community was coping one year on from the Wieambilla shooting, Kelly said residents had showed tremendous resilience in “moving forward”.
“Nobody talks much about it. It’s hardly mentioned much,” he said.
“As a community we put this in our past, but it’s not forgotten. We just don’t want to focus on that.
“There’s events in Australia or around the world happening every day. These bushfires – 60 houses and one death – that’s a tragedy too. It’s a different scenario, but it’s there.”
Wieambilla South Country Club vice president Gayle Porter said: “I think we need to promote how good this community is. The fires have been horrendous but there’s been lots of community resilience and generosity.
“A lot of people are really happy out there. There’s lovely fauna. We’ve got emus, kangaroos and the whole lot. It’s a beautiful place to be and there’s some really good people,” she said.
Kerry and Alan Dare purchased their block of land at Wieambilla in 2004 and the couple moved there permanently, from their previous home at Ipswich, three years before Alan was killed.
They were due to celebrate their 26th wedding anniversary two days after the shooting.
Alan had spent 19 years employed at the JBS meat works at Dinmore before becoming a truck driver of 15 years. He and Kerry owned a truck and ran a small transport business together.
Alan never had children of his own but became a father figure to Kerry’s son and daughter, who were aged five and six when they met. He is also survived by seven grandchildren who knew him as “Poppy”.
They loved the bush. Kerry has told the Caller numerous times that her husband’s passion project was to gradually build a home “for me” on their originally vacant block on Wains Rd Wieambilla, which sits opposite the Trains’.
“He just looked after me like I was a queen. He was my carer,” she told the Caller on December 14 last year.
Alan was shot immediately after he and another neighbour, Vic Lewis, drove to the front gate of the Train property to investigate noise and smoke coming from the murder scene.
Kerry says the fact that Alan’s body lay in situ until the following morning, while amid police responded to the shooting, has added greatly to her grief and distress.
Ruth O’Gorman KC, Counsel Assisting Coroner Terry Ryan, has said the manner in which police approach “liaising with the families of people involved in critical incidents as they unfold and in the immediate aftermath” would be considerate at full inquest into the incident, scheduled for August next year.
To mark a year since his passing, Kerry says she and her friends will today stage a “sit in” for 13 hours – the amount of time she waited behind a police cordon for Alan’s body to be retrieved.
“I was going to do it on my own there for 13 hours but people didn’t want me there on my own. That’s how long he was in the dirt for,” she said.
“I don’t want to keep being morbid about it. I don’t want yearly reminders because I think about this every day. I don’t need anniversaries or reminders or memorials. It’s not about that for me.
“I hid for nine months and then I started to come out. It was just when I felt right to do it.
“It’s about having good times with the people that I’ve met.
“Beside the inquest, life is great – as good as it can be.
“I’m learning a lot because I have to. But I’m proud of myself. I watched him do it all, and now I’m doing it all. It’s a little bit harder but it keeps me busy and it makes me want a drink in the afternoon.”