The week before Christmas, Tara residents are usually happily making last minute preparations as excited children count down the number of sleeps until Santa arrives.
But not this year.
They are instead in a slow procession of cars lining up outside the police station where, one after the other, bewildered and devastated locals stop to place flowers at a makeshift memorial.
A young mother with a baby lays a freshly picked bunch of wildflowers.
They were growing on the roadside where she last spoke to constables Rachel McCrow and Mathew Arnold, who were murdered only days later at a property north of Tara.
She stays quiet, admitting there are no words to do the situation justice, until she lets out an exasperated sigh and finally says, "This town needs Jesus".
Officers and local killed
The small town of Tara, 300 kilometres west of Brisbane in Queensland's Western Downs, has been the focus of national media after the fatal shooting on Monday of two police officers, both aged in their 20s, and Tara local Alan Dare, who was trying to help.
The three were shot at a Wieambilla property by Nathaniel, Stacey and Gareth Train, who were themselves fatally shot later that day after a firefight with police.
Behind the counter at the local hotel, a bartender says people are desperate for answers.
"It's all people are talking about. They keep asking, 'Why?' I just want to know why my friend isn't here ordering a meal."
Long-term resident Allan Bougoure says "friend" is the best way to describe the relationship police have with residents of country towns.
"Country-policing is different to the city. The police integrate really well and become an important part of the community," he said.
Mr Bougoure says his family have lived in the district for 120 years, "so I understand what it means to be a local".
"You might have been born here, or you arrived last week, but a local is someone who gets involved in the community," he said.
"Those people [the Trains], were neither."
Conspiracy rhetoric in town
Mr Bougoure says there is a tension between the laid-back country town atmosphere of live-and-let-live, and the conspiratorial rhetoric that recently found its way into the town.
"These conspiracies aren't local," he said. "But it happened here."
At the pub, someone mentions anti-vaccination slogans have reappeared in chalk on a popular walking track near the lagoon.
Stacey Train was a teacher at the Tara Shire State School and resigned at the end of 2021 when the state government introduced a mandate requiring all staff to have the COVID-19 vaccination.
Sources close to the family say the trio strongly opposed vaccinations.
Member for Warrego Ann Leahy has spent a week working from her car, talking to as many of her constituents as possible.
She does not want the small town written-off as a "conspiracy" zone.
"There were no freedom rallies in Tara," she said.
"The only time the community rallied was to save the local aged care home. That's the kind of community Tara is."
Tara is a close-knit community that prides itself on being self-sufficient.
After experiencing bushfires, floods and droughts, Ms Leahy says the "tragedy is like another natural disaster" for its population.
"You can just see in people's eyes, you know, how it's impacting them."
Rural subdivisions help Tara grow
The town of Tara began as a reserve in the early 1900s, growing as people found work in wool, grazing and timber industries in the surrounding region.
But in the 1970s and 80s, smaller rural subdivisions were created throughout the area, sometimes referred to as the "blocks".
The mostly hard, non-arable and forested land was cheap and drew in people from around Australia looking for their own slice of country to call home.
Adam Young is one of the landowners, a term he prefers to the often negative "blockie" label.
"We generally like to keep to ourselves," he said.
While padlocked metal gates and keep-out signs are common, Mr Young says there is a camaraderie among people living there.
"[We] always like to help each other out, scratch each other's backs," he said.
Like many living near the property where the mass shooting occurred, he feels rattled by the events of this week.
It 'could have happened anywhere'
Stephanie Pedron also lives on a property not far from where the police siege unfolded.
Last month she said the late constable Matthew Arnold helped change her car tyre.
"It's a shock. It's definitely a shock," Ms Pedron said.
With media and other out-of-towners suddenly everywhere in Tara, Ms Pedron is quick to defend the town she calls home.
"I think it could have happened anywhere," she said.
But a feeling of sadness and disbelief has been hanging over Tara all week.
"I f**ckin hate this place," said Tara resident Willie Vanderkroft a day after the shooting.
"The police are only trying to do their job and these idiots with guns shoot 'em."
Almost everyone in Tara knew or had had some interaction with the popular local constables killed in the shooting.
"They were very nice people, actually," Mr Vanderkroft said.
A 'reminder' to the world?
Catherine O'Brien's thick Irish accent rings through the St Vincent De Paul shop in Tara.
"I came here for two years and here I am 27 years later," she said.
She was inspired to move to Tara because of its namesake in Ireland.
"I had three places picked out. This was the first I came to. I fell in love and handed over the cheque," Ms O'Brien said.
"It's the atmosphere."
A group of women stand around the St Vincent De Paul counter, discussing the way they see their town portrayed on the television.
"I wouldn't want Tara to be known for that tragedy for the rest of our lives," Ms O'Brien said.
"But maybe we should be a reminder to the rest of the world as to what is going on."
