Ashley Aldridge

And they were quite, I guess, just relieved that it had come to an end because there was always this fear when I was speaking, particularly with businesses, that it could become something of an urban legend hanging over the town if it didn't come to a conclusion.

People were worried that people would stop going to Mount Buffalo because Desi Freeman perhaps was there still.

So there was that sense of relief when it did come to an end.

And then in the days that followed the March 30 incident, the more time I spent in Popanka, there was a real sense of change.

People were becoming quite frustrated.

As you can imagine, the media comes back into town.

and they felt like it was bringing a bit of negativity back to the town.

And we really should remember that this area had suffered through the Black Summer bushfires, and then COVID hit them, and they rely really heavily on tourism.

And then the Pawpunka shooting happened.

It was a lot, a lot for businesses, and they were really ready to move on.

And

There were also a lot of people that were supportive of Desi Freeman in that area.

He was very much ingrained in parts of the community and he and his family were, I spoke with many people that were sympathisers of him as well.

So that was a whole different aspect.

Yeah, I think particularly the moments and Freeman's actions following the shooting of those two police officers in those moments directly after was something that really stood out to me yesterday and something that we will look at moving forward.

My pleasure.

Thanks for having me.