A day after a mass killing that is almost impossible to comprehend, the far north Queensland city of Cairns is a community united in mourning.
All day on Saturday they came to the Manoora park, adjacent to the nondescript Murray Street home where eight children were stabbed to death.
The sheets on the Hills Hoist painted a picture of normal suburban life, with only the police tape and the grim-faced officer in the backyard a giveaway to the horror that had taken place inside.
The mother of seven of the children, 37-year-old Mersane Warria, had been arrested over the deaths of her seven children and her niece and could be charged as soon as Sunday.
Police said the victims were four girls aged 14, 12, 11 and two, and four boys aged nine, eight, six and five.
Ms Warria, also known as Raina Thaiday, remained in a stable condition under police guard at the Cairns Base Hospital.
Over the fence from her house in the Murray Street park, flowers multiplied at a fast rate, provoking comparisons with Sydney's Martin Place siege in this national week of tragedy.
A steady stream of strangers, united in grief, joined the local indigenous community in their sorrow. Among them was Jennifer Deen, who said she was friends with a woman who had cared for one of the slain children.
"All I know is the lady who had one of the children was a remarkable woman," she said.
"She was here yesterday and to see the devastation of her and her husband. She'd dropped the child off and had come to pick her up – I don't know what to say.…This shouldn't happen here. None of this should happen here."
Cairns Detective Inspector Bruno Asnicar said the mother, who was placed under arrest in hospital, was talking to police.
"She's awake, lucid and able to speak," he said.
Speaking near the Manoora home that was a hive of activity on Saturday morning with a steady stream of police and mourners, Inspector Asnicar said the home had not previously been a subject of concern for police.
"It's not a problem house, as has been speculated," he said. "This is just an ordinary neighbourhood with a lot of good people and a lot of kids in the area.
"This is just something that's caught everybody by surprise – it's just an absolutely tragic event."
Inspector Asnicar said the dead children had all been removed from the Murray Street house and autopsies would be performed later on Saturday.
He expected the house to remain a crime scene for "at least a couple of days", with investigators already removing a number of "weapons" including knives that would be forensically examined in coming days.
Acting Queensland Premier Tim Nicholls visited the tragic scene and said the government would provide whatever help it could to the community.
"As a father myself, with three children under 15, I can only imagine the grief that this community is feeling as they come to grips with the events over the past days," he said.
"I'm sure I speak on behalf of all Queenslanders and all Australians when we say we are with you, we are here to support you and we feel with you the grief the community feels."
Mr Nicholls said he briefed Prime Minister Tony Abbott on the situation on Saturday.
