I broke down in Moree once as a younger lad and spent a lot of time in their Services Club there while waiting for parts. 

It had a real nice vibe until one of the farmers hit another local with a bar stool right in front of a local copper, all because the guy was sitting at the bar in the attacker's favourite spot.

Kinda soured things, but it's a small town, and there weren't many other options for things to do, let alone get some libations.

The cop threw the victim out and let the guy have his spot on the bar.

I was on my gap year and was travelling, working where I could, did waaaaay too much backpacker work, stayed in hostels and met a lot of interesting people.  It was a great to see the country.

The last 3 months was spent over seas, mostly in south east Asia, but I digress.

What I wasn't ready for was how corrupt people with a tiny bit of power in country towns could be, until I realised, like the situation above, it was mostly towards Indigenous Australians.

It wasn't corruption, just simple racism.

Everyone sort of just banded together and got along, common enemy and all I guess.

Those young and innocent eyes...  I wasn't ready for it.

I can't believe how many people are still like that today, not drawn together by a small population in a country town, but the internet and poorly moderated forums.

Super Nova wrote on Nov 27^th, 2023 at 3:58pm:


Poker machines have been in NSW for the last 60 years. Having poker machines in pubs would not be a surprise. Given that there are over 80,000 poker machines in NSW, you would be kidding yourself to think that pubs would not have a few each tavern.