Dear Mr McGowan,
I say Dear Mr McGowan but this letter is also for any Western Australian who has responded with indifference or contempt throughout the course of the COVID-19 pandemic at the ongoing and real-life struggles of WA citizens living overseas or those with loved ones in Western Australia.
This letter is for any Western Australian currently celebrating the indefinite cancellation of the border opening and claiming it as a victory of border policy.
Please allow me the opportunity to explain the current situation from the perspective of a Western Australian currently living overseas.
The pandemic began and the Australian border policies sacrificed its citizens overseas in a way that literally no other country in the world did. I said nothing.
I had my first child and my parents were unable to come and meet their grandson or offer me support. I said nothing.
Growing rhetoric emerged from Australians in Australia saying it was our own fault if we chose to leave our country and the government therefore had no responsibility to help its citizens who found themselves overseas when the pandemic hit. I said nothing.
The time my husband and I had available for parental leave came and went without us being able to bring my son home to meet his family and my oldest friends. I said nothing.
I heard the most heartbreaking stories of Australian citizens trapped overseas, whose situations were infinitely more tragic than my own. I said nothing.