A Killing at Croppa Creek
An epic true story of greed and malice, power and revenge, from an acclaimed Australian storyteller
2014, Moree, New South Wales: Ian Turnbull, a 79-year-old farmer from a grazier family with a legacy stretching to white settlement, is embroiled in a legal case sparked by Glen Turner, an environmental officer who witnesses illegal land clearing on Turnbull’s property.
As night falls, Turnbull confronts Turner on a road abutting the property. After stalking him for twenty minutes, he shoots Turner repeatedly, finally ending his life with a shot in the back. The explosive effects of this murder rip through the local community, the courts and all who come into the story’s orbit.
This brutal killing is a crucible for the most urgent questions for Australians today. How do we manage the land in a time of crisis? In an age of climate change and species destruction, is the divide between urban conservationists and rural landholders forever intractable? Can we learn to use the soil to which we all belong without stripping it bare? Kate Holden brings her discerning eye to this gripping tale of land, law, retribution and clemency. The Winter Road speaks to the heart of the nation we are, and the nation we should seek to become.