Page 18 of Wings Above the Mallee

‘I think the last census lists the largest disposable income in the state in the under-forty age bracket,’ Sean remarked mildly. It amused him how fond people were of making declarations with no research to support their point of view. ‘And they’re also the ones we can most likely persuade to travel, look at somewhere new, try something different.’

‘You’re right,’ Tracey agreed. ‘Folk around your age—’ she indicated Heath and Ethan, and Sean hid his chuckle, knowing how his son would resent that pairing ‘—are exactly who we need to attract. You’re in your prime. Any younger, you’re too busy to enjoy life; when you’re older, you’re too tired.’

‘Youstill manage to enjoy life, Tracey.’ Roni looked concerned.

‘Of course, love. It’s just a different perspective when you’re counting down. You don’t look for the same kind of excitement. Easier to please, us old ones.’ Tracey chuckled as Christine snorted. ‘Some of us, anyway. So … Ethan, was it?’ She looked questioningly across the table. ‘What was your idea for making Settlers Bridge more appealing to tourists?’

‘Sorry, I wasn’t thinking so much for tourists,’ Ethan said, ‘although there would be a flow-on effect. I was talking with some of the local kids when we came into town during the week. Saw them again just now.’ He inclined his head toward the front of the building. ‘And they were complaining that there’s nothing to do around here—’

‘Nothing to do!’ Dave exploded. ‘They’ve got everything we ever had, plus that streaming rubbish to keep them insideall day doing nothing productive.’ Each time he spoke, Dave snatched something else up from the tea tray, putting away in quick succession a generous wedge of cheesecake, Anzacs, coffee cake and apricot slice. Sean almost regretted chairing the meeting, which somewhat precluded him from sampling more. For years, corporate meetings had only been made bearable by the morning or afternoon tea provided. Eventually, the food had given way to shots of scotch in the boardroom, regardless of the time of day. That was before he’d found his way to sobriety and a new career.

‘That’s partly my concern,’ Ethan said, facing Dave squarely. ‘A few of the kids were skateboarding, but they said they can only do it down the streets, and there’s always someone cutting crook about it. So I was thinking, if the RAG was to invest in the locals before setting their sights further afield, something like a decent skatepark would keep your kids off the street, but also attract a wide age range from further afield.’

‘Are you mad?’ Dave was on his feet, palms on the table, shoulders hunched. ‘That’s the last group we want here. You’d have every wall graffitied in a week and drug paraphernalia littering the streets. You won’t get support for that kind of Greenie thinking in here.’ The veins in his neck throbbed alarmingly with each word.

Sean had tensed at the drug references, careful not to look at Charlee. He and Heath trod carefully around her, aware of her addiction but never facing it openly. Instead they paid for all her expenses directly, so she’d have little money to feed the habit. It was a dirty secret that was no secret.

He spoke slowly, careful to keep his voice level, hide his personal involvement. ‘I’m not sure how political affiliation comes into it, but I thought we’d managed to agree that thefocus of the RAG is to determine a long-term direction for the town. Ethan raises a good point, in that it makes sense to service our own population before catering to tourists. And if it’s a plan that has potential to do both, surely that’s win–win?’

‘But the drug addicts,’ Christine hissed, as though they’d keep the issue clandestine. ‘We don’t want that element here.’

Charlee snorted contemptuously.

‘Sorry to puncture your bubble.’ Dr Hartmann’s expression was grim. ‘But Settlers Bridge isn’t a perfect little Brigadoon. I can assure you that, same as everywhere, we have drug issues. I’m not saying that something like a skatepark doesn’t conjure an image of hoons and booze and drugs, but I’m not sure how accurate that image is. What I do know is that there have been multiple studies done into the mental health benefits of encouraging teens—and, increasingly, twenty- and thirty-year-olds—to get out of the house, do some physical activity, pursue a hobby, a sport. And I can confidently say that increased drug use isnottied to increased activity.’

Sean was grateful for the young doctor’s eloquent support. ‘Besides which, not all drugs are illegal,’ he said flatly. ‘I’m sure that lots of you enjoy a drink after a hard day. Just like I did.’ Hell, he needed one right now; he didn’t have the stomach for confrontation anymore, that’s why he clung to being gently entertaining, flirting with the ladies, getting the blokes onside. ‘But we act like being addicted to booze, cigarettes—’ he gestured at Dave’s nicotine-stained fingers ‘—whatever your poison, is a choice, and think that makes us superior to someone hooked on drugs. Yet an addiction is an addiction, no matter the substance.’

‘Never heard of anyone committing murder for a packet of fags,’ Dave grumbled.

Sean ignored him. ‘I’m not arguing in favour of a skatepark or against it. I’m saying that we have a duty to fairly consider anything that is tabled.’

‘Here,’ Charlee interrupted, brandishing her phone, ‘the beauty of having internet.’ She shot a dark look at Heath, as though the crap service out at the farm was his fault. ‘Murder in North Adelaide related to an argument over cigarettes and alcohol. Not drugs.’

Ethan nodded. ‘Dead right. Well, so to speak,’ he added with a grin. ‘Christine, was it? If you want to reduce drug use, you have to provide alternatives. The root of addiction is grounded in disconnection and fertilised by the desire to disassociate, whether that’s from people, your life, or from something so painful that you simply don’t want to face it.’

The look he landed on Charlee was so tender, Sean’s breath caught in his throat. This guy got his granddaughter. He knew her pain, understood it. Could he untangle it?

‘So it makes sense that if you want to limit drug issues, you need to provide connection for the people who live here. What better way than creating a positive space for the local kids, somewhere to go, a focus, a place to hang together?’

‘Isn’t that what school’s for?’ Heath said flatly.

Ethan shook his head. ‘For all its benefits, school is compulsory. Even university—’ again, that look at Charlee, as though he was reinforcing a conversation they’d already had ‘—can have an element of compulsion. That negates any sense of self-actualisation. Humans need to be provided with choices and rewards of their own making.’

‘How would a skatepark provide a reward?’ Amelia set down the iPad she was taking minutes on. ‘Surely kids here already have places to hang out? I mean, we’re right on the river front. A skatepark is no different than a playground, just angled at a slightly different age group.’

‘Well, I’d argue it’s a wide age group,’ Ethan said with a grin, leaning down to pick up the skate deck wedged against his chair. He held up the battered, scratched piece of wood. ‘The reward is in achievement. See, you try a trick—you fail miserably. You probably trash your deck and have to save up for a new one. You fail more times than you can count, and you end up bruised and beaten. And then, when you’ve just about given up, some other kid will give you a tip, show you a new technique, and you’ll land the trick. And you feel like you’ve just invented the cure for cancer or solved world hunger, because, yes, it is that bloody big: this is something you wanted to do, something you set out to do, and through sheer hard work, practice and perseverance, you’ve achieved it.’

‘They’ll be too high to even know they’veachieved,’ Dave sneered. ‘All we need to do is keep drugs out of Settlers. Full stop.’

‘That’s not even possible,’ Taylor interjected, her tone adamant. ‘Addiction is complex; it’s not a black-and-white, one-size-fits-all issue. It’s caused by a gap, by an unfulfilled need, by a yearning. So maybe we need to pre-empt issues by addressing them from that angle.’

‘How ridiculous,’ Christine sneered. ‘In my day, we did as we were told when we were told, and drugs weren’t an issue.’

‘But your generation had their own addictions, Christine,’ Taylor said. ‘Smoking. Alcohol. Originally those were considered social behaviours, limited to events where people got together with friends. But as we become an increasingly consumerist society, always wanting more, bigger, better, it takes a lot less work to have a relationship with a substance, than with other people who are just as busy trying to build their empire.’

‘But we have so many opportunities for relationships here—’ Lynn started.

‘Well, you and Ant certainly do,’ Tracey said with an earthy chortle that made Sean wonder at the gossip behind that affair.

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