At the end of the longest river in Western Australia sits a sleepy town where the desert meets the ocean.
And like the clash of cooling sea and hot sand, community leaders say the town of Carnarvon has become a place of friction and disparity.
Now, youth leaders are stepping forward to restore a sense of calm.
"But I think that's all because of their upbringing and surroundings."
Ms Hudson is part of a group of local young women developing the Gascoyne's first youth forum and festival, where the focus is on making young people's voices and issues heard.
"Not a lot of them have the two supportive parents, or just a supportive family member," fellow youth leader Tayunna Cook said.
Untapped potential
Many locals say Carnarvon should be a booming tourist town.
It is located between two World Heritage sites — the Ningaloo coast and Shark Bay.
The Cape National Park, located alongside the Ningaloo Reef, attracted more than 500,000 visitors last year alone.
Carnarvon is also abundant in seafood and horticulture.
Thanks to its temperate climate and the mighty Gascoyne River, the region is known as WA's food bowl, with offerings like mangoes, grapes, bananas, dragonfruit and tomatoes.
But a short walk around Carnarvon's streets provides a grim explanation for the lack of tourists.
Just metres from a new waterside development, a man who calls himself Jimmy can be spotted scouring the bushland with a look of intense frustration.
"I'm searching for my wallet," he remarked with a frown.
Jimmy said he was visiting the town for the first time and believed his wallet had been stolen.
"I just came up here for work," he said.
"I kind of thought the locals were just being sarcastic or dramatising the increase [in crime] in the past few months.
"But if [criminals] are brazen enough to walk into the house with two blokes watching TV and one out the back and grab a wallet off the bench, they've got some confidence."
Just around the corner from the new development, an abandoned house sits with its roof ripped open.
Its contents of insulation fibres are strewn for hundreds of metres along the street.
"There's too much fighting and bickering and carrying on," Carnarvon elder Kelly Capewell said.
"[Locals] need something to keep their hands busy. Idle hands make for the devil's work."
But Mrs Capewell said Carnarvon was once a peaceful meeting place, and she hoped events like the youth forum on April 13 and 14 could help restore the sense of community.
"You've got Yinggarda, Malgana, Thadgari, Thalanyji and Bayungu. Carnarvon was the meeting place of the Mid-West," Mrs Capewell said.
Crime front and centre
Tackling crime is the number one topic in town.
A comment on the Carnarvon Crime Facebook page triggers a barrage of impassioned responses within minutes.
Rob Newman is the page moderator, a third generation Carnarvon local, business owner and snake catcher.
He said it is going to take a unified effort to curb the culprits.
"We've had a major increase [in crime], not only from young offenders but young adults," he said.
"We've got a myriad of issues. We've got intergenerational gaps with some families, we've got issues with the juvenile justice system too, not being able to hand tough consequences down to these children.
"Also, the lack of support services and intervention planning that we have available currently."
Senior Sergeant Mark Ardley recently began a new role as Carnarvon's Officer in Charge with WA Police.
With previous experience in Wiluna and Northampton, he has hit the ground running.
Geraldton and Carnarvon Police recently joined forces to crack down on crime.
Over the past three weeks, police charged fourteen offenders with more than 30 serious offences.
Senior Sergeant Ardley said investigations are continuing and catching the culprits is a combined community effort.
"Just be vigilant," he said.
"Lock your houses, lock your vehicles, report the suspicious behaviour.
"We're here to help you but we've got to work together to get on top of these crime issues."
Dreams of 'harmony'
Carnarvon Shire President Eddie Smith agrees it is time for less chat and more action.
He said after years of attempts to convince the state government for assistance, the council has turned to the community to come up with a new strategy.
The Shire of Carnarvon, with community participation, has developed a pilot program called 'Intensive Family and Community Intervention'.
It will go before the council for approval later this month.
If approved, the council will be seeking state government funding.
"We [need to] get the division out of our community and work together to get this problem fixed," Mr Smith said.
Mrs Capewell agrees.
The inaugural 2022 Gascoyne Young Aboriginal Leaders Forum: Empowering Future Leaders will be held as part of 2022 Youth Week.
The forum is expected to attract 50 young Aboriginal people aged 18 to 35 representing the Gascoyne region.
Its focus is to provide emerging Aboriginal leaders with leadership tools and create a safe space to co-design a Youth Impact Plan on behalf of Gascoyne young people.
It will also attempt to identify solutions to address the social issues impacting on young people in Carnarvon.
