The Wieambilla killings: the sense behind senseless murder

In the saturation of grief, the police have been less than forthcoming about why they sent junior officers to this particular property in the first place. Queensland Police Service commissioner Katarina Carroll conceded she did not have the "full extent of information" about the Trains.

The Queensland Police have resolutely refused to answer questions about whether officers had made a prior visit to the property, or the extent of knowledge about the shooters. The now deleted YouTube channel features videos suggesting a history with authorities, expressed through paranoid language. And as with much in the way of paranoia, kernels of veracity might be picked. "You attempt to abduct us using contractors," goes one caption. "You attempt to intimidate and target us with your Raytheon Learjets and planes. You sent 'covert' assets out here to my place in the bush. So what is your play here? To have me and my wife murdered during a state police 'welfare check'? You already tried that one."

Gareth's brother Nathaniel was also one who came across the police radar, having driven a 4WD packed with loaded guns and military knives through a New South Wales border gate into Queensland last December. This was in breach of COVID-19 regulations. Nathaniel was subsequently found disposing of some of the items in a creek near the Queensland town of Talwood, an incident reported to police. The fact that these included three loaded firearms might have struck law enforcement as odd.

On Radio National on December 21, the Queensland Police Union again reiterated the view that there was no credence to claims that police had made a previous visit to the property. Instead of discussing such details, Leavers has something else in mind : purchasing the property of the shooters in Wieambilla, rendering the profane sacred.

This macabre object has a broader purpose: "The last thing we want to see is the anti-vaxxers, pro-gun, conspiracy theorists to get this land and use it for their own warped and dangerous views." Comprehending or even seeking to understand such individuals was simply intolerable. "They are absolutely un-Australian and I don't want it to be used for them to promote themselves." Let ignorance reign so that others may live happily.