The scene at the Streeter property yesterday after the discovery of the two bodies on Thursday
THINGS are often heightened in small communities.
If there’s a great footballer who came from a small town, then to the locals, he’s the best footballer ever to play the game.
If there’s an event held in a small town, then it will no doubt be a blockbuster.
By the same token, if there’s a tragedy in a small community, it seems to hit so much harder.
John and Douglas Streeter are huge losses to their community.
The scene at their farm yesterday, owned by their family for generations, couldn’t be further from normal practice on the grazing and cropping property.
The tractors, grain augers and other machinery were joined by divisional vans, forensic vehicles and police tape.
Streeter Lane, an 800 metre dusty stretch named after the only family to ever live on the property, would have rarely seen more traffic.
Despite being taped off, all manner of police vans, patrol cars and unmarked lorries used for forensic equipment thundered up and down all day.
Sheep on the farm, used to seeing the occasional wedge tail eagle, ran for their lives when television news helicopters began circling overhead.
The noise of the rotor blades echoed around the foothills of the Pyrenees ranges, just as the fatal gunshots would have hours earlier.
The questions of metropolitan news crews at the scene also left a ringing in many ears.
“A merino is a sheep, yeah?”
The family farm itself looked to be a testament to the hard work of the Streeter family over the years.
Modern four-bay machinery sheds sat alongside dilapidated hay storage sheds, complete with missing iron and a 45 degree lean.
The heritage value in the old farm buildings, not used for decades, was tremendous, while the newer buildings replace their former functionality.
A neat fire break was visible, dug around the edge of paddocks, and all fences were upright and sound.
It was clear the Streeters were good farmers. Equally clear was that they were good people.
As police continue to probe what happened in the garden of the family farmhouse on Thursday afternoon, a community will remember two men who were well known, respected and part of the fabric of the region.
While some towns like to embellish their tales, this community couldn’t emphasise the tragedy of John and Douglas Streeter enough.
jordan.oliver@fairfaxmedia.com.au