Outback gold rush towns: The fragile legacy of relying on a single industry

In a tiny town of 450 people in the West Australian outback, the last remaining butcher offers a simple explanation for his lifestyle: "I am mad". "The shire anticipates development of this sort of support industry will bring much needed people back into this community, allowing us to once again thrive and prosper," she says. "It's very likely that some of the communities across regional Western Australia won't make it," Professor Davies says. "There's a couple of things that keep towns open," he says — a school and a pub. "Right across regional rural landscapes, throughout the developed world, we have similar trends occurring when towns were first established on a single industry, and that industry then shifts and changes," she says.