On November 5, 2016, a group of young men arrived at the Royal Adelaide Hospital in Adelaide to attend a memorial service for their grandfather, who died after an accident in the rural area of Woomera.
In a move that shocked the community, the men wore white overalls, which they had obtained from a shop in the town of Nambour.
The group also wore blue shirts, white gloves, and dark boots.
They were dressed in black trousers and boots, with a dark jacket and black gloves, which bore the slogan “Rural King Beckleys Legacy” and “My Father”.
The group arrived at 8am to begin their memorial service.
They carried out their ceremony in a small circle, as if to remember the man who had brought them here.
“We are going to remember our ancestors who are still here,” the group’s leader said.
Their final words were a mixture of sadness and anger.
“We are not going to forget the people we lost and we will remember them in the future,” they said.
The memorial service was attended by dozens of members of the community.
One member, who did not want to be named, described the experience of attending the memorial service as a “shameful day”.
“I think it was just a disgraceful day,” she said.
“I can’t think of anything worse than to be the one to be there, but it was still a shock to come to the memorial, I had a really bad feeling.”
Another member, also who did to not want his identity revealed, said that while the memorial was a shame to be in this position, the day was not.
He said he did not think the event was a reflection of the current situation in the community: “It was just about remembering the memory of our grandfather, it was not a reflection on the community.”
“It’s been really hard to deal with all the negative stuff going on,” he said.