“I’m sorry.”

A tragic insight into the mind of Geoff Hunt in his family’s final moments.

“It’s all my fault. Totally mine.”

A man seemingly pushed beyond the point of rational behaviour.

As the first day of the inquest began into what happened on that sorrowful day in September last year, answers to painful questions are starting to surface.

It must be harrowing for the family to be slowly dragged through the tragedy again, but hopefully they will gain closure from this week’s findings.

This unassuming country family has been thrust into the national media spotlight under the worst circumstances imaginable.

The looks on family members’ faces showed it was the last place in the world they wanted to be.

Warned of distressing evidence during the inquest, they held themselves together with true country character and dignity.

In her opening address, counsel assisting the coroner, Dr Peggy Dwyer, said the close loved ones of the Hunt family would still feel the pain of what happened every day.

By its very nature, the inquest will reveal the private lives of Kim and Geoff Hunt.

But, Dr Dwyer said the actions, intentions, thoughts and emotional mindset of Geoff and Kim were relevant to try to understand why these events occurred.

But it was not her place to judge them or to invite the coroner to do so. 

It’s all still cold comfort for a community who will always struggle to comprehend what transpired on that fateful day.

Families across the region know too well of the pressures of life on the land.

None would have predicted such a tragic outcome.

Whatever the inquest will find, the loved ones closest to the Hunts will keep going – forever carrying the loving memories of Geoff, Kim, Fletcher, Mia, and Phoebe.

If anything positive can come out of such tragic circumstances, the debilitating condition of depression must be destigmatised in robust farming families.

And it starts with a strong community.

The spirit of the Lockhart community rallying behind this brave family in its darkest hour is a silver lining on the blackest of clouds.