Former Upper Lachlan Shire mayor, John Shaw, was among them, taking in news that good friends, Anne (Annie) and Andrew Basnett and Andrew’s brother, Richard, had died in tragic circumstances the night before.

“I saw a number of people who just knowingly nodded their heads and shrugged their shoulders in disbelief. Words just failed them,” Mr Shaw said.

February 16, 2017 will be etched forever in the Gunning community memory as the day a tragedy took the lives of Andrew, Annie and Richard. 

The family members were found dead inside a concrete water tank at their property near Oolong, between Yass and Gunning, on Thursday evening.

Andrew, 69, collapsed while cleaning the empty water tank with a motorised water pump. Wife Annie, 63, and brother Richard, 68, went to his aid, but also collapsed. They are believed to have been poisoned by carbon monoxide gas that built up in the tank as the water pump was used.  

Their extended family is devastated, friends shocked to the core, and the wider community mourning their loss.

Neighbours and friends described the Basnetts as the kind of people who kept rural communities like Gunning thriving: “A tight couple who were deeply involved in the sheep industry and tireless workers in the community.”

A long-time friend, who requested anonymity, described Andrew as a “passionate and successful Merino breeder”. 

Andrew was involved in his local rural fire brigade at Oolong and served as a director of the then Rural Lands Protection Board, he said. 

The friend recalled how Andrew loved sport as a good swimmer and tennis player and also played rugby union, cricket and golf. Their family friendship had spanned three generations.

On Annie, he said: “She was always into mischief. We had lots of laughs when she was around. Annie was a noisy one and could be heard from one end of Gunning to the next!”

he Basnetts had established links in the Gunning and Yass district. The couple had moved to their Veterans Road, Oolong property ‘Nerragundah’ in the 1980s from Blakney Creek and continued to build up a high-quality Merino sheep flock. 

“Andrew was a very successful Merino breeder. He always did well at the circuit sales and won last year’s Flock Ewe competition,” said fellow sheep farmer and friend, Eric Dowling.

Andrew Treweeke, from ANZ Bank, sponsors of the Flock Ewe competition, noted: “They were lovely people who were passionate about their sheep and the industry.”

Annie left her stamp on many district organisations, including Gunning Community Care’s management committee and as a community transport driver.  

She took a special interest in palliative care, was active in the Wellness Group, and helped with the annual Seniors’ Christmas luncheon.  

With the help of others, Annie started the preschool, spearheading fundraising to buy land for Gunning’s now thriving Early Learning Centre.  

A dedicated gardener involved with the Open Garden scheme, she created a lovely country garden that hosted many happy family events.

Andrew and Annie are survived by their three children – Campbell, Tom and Emily and their spouses – and five grandchildren on whom the couple “doted”. 

Richard is survived by his wife; and the Basnett men are survived by another brother, Murray, and their 102-year-old mother, Marjorie, patron of the Gunning Garden Club and a much-loved resident.    

Richard farmed near Taralga before moving to Canberra to pursue a career as a male nurse. Friends have described him as a good friend of his brother. 

Richard had retired and recently moved with his wife to Kangaroo Valley while still helping Andrew at ‘Nerragundah’ and sharing the care of their mother.

The community at large will focus their thoughts and prayers on family members left behind.

Gone too soon, with each having so much to live for, Andrew, Annie and Richard will long be mourned throughout the region and by all those who knew them.  

On Wednesday, February 22, a counsellor will be at the Foley Centre in Gunning. Residents are encouraged to drop in or phone 4845 1166. 

There will be an inter-denominational service at St Edmund’s Church at 6pm where everyone is welcome to attend.