Mr Kane said it had been a long-held dream of his to own a pub.

"The first day I took over the hotel, one of my drinkers asked me what I was going to do - just rip them off and leave?" Mr Kane said.

"And I said, no, I'm going to turn this into the best country hotel in Australia and I'm going to stand in the carpark and look at it and say 'I did.'

"I reckon I have. There's a lot here for Desley and I. It's just... us."

For Mrs Kane, opening a pub was a chance to give back to the community.

"Way back we raised a lot for the Red Cross and the tsunami appeal and we're really big with the Westpac Helicopter," she said.

"In eight years, we've raised over $120,000 for the helicopter and we're their number one third party supporter, which means we didn't need help, we did it all ourselves."

But several complaints about the business from a few local residents have worn Mr and Mrs Kane down.

"There's a set few that will ring up and complain about noise and that sort of thing," Mrs Kane said.

"It costs us money to defend ourselves and we're over it.

"On ANZAC Day we had a blocked toilet - someone had put a roll of toilet paper down there.

"We fixed it, but a week later someone rang the council and said we had faeces coming out the door, children were walking in, our wastepond had broke the bank, but none of that had happened.

"We just thought: 'that's it, we're over it.'"

Mr and Mrs Kane will close the pub next month, possibly converting it to a backpacker hostel.

News of the closure has angered many, with more than 500 people joining a Facebook group called 'Support the Lunatic Hotel' and about 50 locals gathering at the pub this week to greet Member for New England Barnaby Joyce.

Mr Joyce flew into Drake via helicopter and landed at the oval next door, known as The Quacka, after hearing about plans to close the hotel.

He said, while he didn't have a solution for Mr and Mrs Kane, he hoped the issues could be resolved.

"I'm not going to be Mother Theresa," he said.

"My business is listening to the people.

"Peace in our time is what I'd like."

Mr Joyce said he frequented the Lunatic Hotel.

"All the time - I take a run down from Tenterfield to Casino and I always stop here," he said.

"Any local pub in a local town is the focal centre.

"It gives people a social outing, it gives people the capacity to find out what else going on.

"These are vital pieces of social infrastructure."

But Mr Joyce's flying visit wasn't enough to change the minds of Mr and Mrs Kane.

"We'll close the doors," Mr Kane said.

"It's done."

Source: ABC News, Samantha Turnbull, June 11^th 2015