His brother Nathaniel,46,had developed a deep resentment for the NSW education system he wasonly recently part of before disappearing and resurfacing at the property. Gareth’s wife,45-year-old Stacey,quit a local public school role ahead of vaccine mandates last year.

All three were killed in the grisly end to the situation whichunfolded on Monday night about three hours west of Brisbane.

Elise Thomas,a senior analyst at the Institute for Strategic Dialogue,said the uncertainties of the pandemic and frustration at government responses to it had exposed many people to conspiracy theories for the first time.

Those already involved were pulled deeper. As COVID fuel left the movement,some found their way out,but others had lost ties to friends and families outside. The security threats of mass protest activity then shifted to lone actors or small groups capable of violence,Thomas said.

Deakin University senior research fellow Josh Roose said while relatively benign conspiracies such as Area 51 had long found their place in popular culture,the present risk was this “committed core” with a far-right undercurrent.

“We’re already starting to see little bits and pieces online ... supportive of the attacks in Queensland recently,” Roose said,noting others had already “turned this event into a conspiracy”.

Lydia Khalil,an expert in far-right extremism at the Lowy Institute,said authorities had been understandably wary of policing people for unorthodox views and most even on the extreme end did not engage in violence.

But she said conspiracy-fuelled violence was increasing around the world and the connection between extremist views and violence needs to be better understood. “This is a clear signal we need to take the uptick in conspiratorial beliefs more seriously,” she said.

Thomas and Roose agreed that any solution was complex and one not yet laid out by most governments,but involved a range of programs to disengage people from conspiratorial communities by offering a positive alternative and addressing social inequalities.

Better regulation of the content swirling on both mainstream and alternative social media sites and online forums was another way to stop the spread of — and funnelling of people towards — more violent messaging,they said.

Federal Home Affairs Minister Clare O’Neil last week announced the federal government was creating a new cyber-security strategy and reforming counter-terrorism laws to deal with emerging national security threats linked to right-wing extremism.