I’m not complaining that WA is staying shut. Like many, I’m just grieving for lost time | Calla Wahlquist

West Australians are torn between wanting to see loved ones and wanting to stay safe behind the barricade. Most of us in the eastern states feel that conflict too

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It has been a hard few years to have family in Western Australia. On Thursday, at a late-night press conference after national cabinet, the premier, Mark McGowan, announced that his safe transition plan, which would have allowed quarantine-free travel into the state from 5 February, had been put on indefinite pause.

I exchanged muted text messages with my sister, who lives in Perth, from my home in central Victoria. We were not really surprised - relying on McGowan to open the border on schedule is a mug's game this far into the pandemic.