Western Australia has rejoined the Commonwealth from today by reopening its hard border, letting its residents out and welcoming the rest of the country back in.
So after two years of isolation, how are everyday West Australians feeling about the shift?
Paddy Sims — butcher
For Bassendean Gourmet Meats owner Paddy Sims, the last two years were a rollercoaster.
In early 2020, he was recovering from bladder cancer and then COVID hit.
He and his wife continued to run the business but shut the store and served people through a window while he was recovering.
Now, they'll do things differently, keeping the store open despite the border reopening expected to bring more COVID cases.
"I understand why it's there but the longer it drags on, the more uncertainty."
Uncertainty worries Mr Sims as he knows people tend to spend less, which eats into his bottom line.
"It's no good sitting on the sidelines [thinking], 'Should we, shouldn't we?' At the end of the day, you won't know until you do it.
"I think he's [WA Premier Mark McGowan] put us in a good position where we should cope better than the eastern states."
Mr Sims said he was ready to welcome the rest of the country back and any divisions with other states had been emphasised by political leaders rather than ordinary West Australians.
"It's like each government or each side trying to score brownie points," he said.
"We're one nation, one country. Forget about state versus state, or Liberals, Labor, whatever. What about people?"
Glenn Marder — bakery owner
The start of 2020 crushed 80 per cent of Glenn Marder's business.
Little Home Bakery does most of its business wholesale — supplying hotels, restaurants and Perth's only casino, which closed amid a protracted initial lockdown in WA.
Despite this, he managed to keep every one of his 60 staff on board.
But with the WA government's introduction of level 2 restrictions capping numbers at venues, Mr Marder fears it could be more challenging this time around.
"We recruited locally, which was fine for us. We had to train people, and we built a great team.
"Now we come into a position where a reduction of business due to the new ... restrictions means our business drops.
"We've got a pretty young team. Some of them, they just settled in their life, they created families, they bought houses, they build houses. So we don't want to put their livelihood on the edge."
Mr Marder hopes the WA government will consider cutting payroll tax during the restrictions to help businesses stay afloat.
With German heritage and family in Europe, Mr Marder hopes to be able to travel again soon, but uncertainty remains.
"If we keep doing these borders, opening, closures and keeping all these restrictions in place … it doesn't give them confidence to come," he said.
"A lot of European people, people from different backgrounds, live in WA, so I think they are craving to see their families in other countries.
"At the same time, we should be very welcoming to people coming into WA."
Jane Hough — candlemaker
Jane Hough has been making candles for about 10 years, opening her studio right in the midst of COVID. A biochemist by trade, she mixes natural scents to bring light and joy to her customers.
Ms Hough says she felt lucky to be living in WA behind the border these past two years, despite having to cancel trips interstate and overseas.
"I know from the feedback from friends and family overseas and interstate, people really looked upon WA as doing something really unique, and that we had perhaps a lot more freedom than some of the other states during COVID."
She also lauded West Australians' ability to accept change.
"I think what I've seen is the good in people and the flexibility in people," Ms Hough said.
"We've seen lots of people just accept and get on with it and do things differently."
As supply chain issues hit, she found herself looking to local suppliers to produce the unique scents for her candles.
She also found more Australians deciding to shop local as international products became less reliable.
There were benefits in the hard border to keep COVID out. But there were challenges, too.
"I've got family overseas in the UK. So normally, I'd be over there every year visiting them," she said.
"I've got family in Sydney, I've got friends all around the country.
"The hard thing was not seeing nieces and nephews as often and missing a couple of years of their life.
"I really feel for people who missed out on being with people who were sick or ill."
But now, she is ready for the borders to come down, believing WA's high vaccination rate means it's time to open up and allow families to reunite.
And her message to the rest of the country is, "come on over".
"I think for people who have been missing their family and friends, it's a great time for reunions," she said.
