Colin Woodman reflects on the pandemic as he removes the barriers that have blocked the entrance to the Ardyaloon community, north of Broome in WA's Kimberley, for more than two years.
The signs – emblazoned with the words "Road Closed" and "Stop. Locals Only" – were first put in place in March 2020 as COVID-19 started to spread across the world.
The town of Ardyaloon – also known as One Arm Point – was one of the first in WA to shut out visitors in a bid to protect vulnerable Aboriginal people from the disease at the start of the pandemic.
"It was great pulling down those signs and knowing that we're almost back to normal," he said.
"With the rapid antigen testing and wearing masks and those requirements I'm pretty confident that this community will just get on with it."
First visitors return
On Wednesday, the emergency directions that restricted visitation to the state's more than 200 remote Aboriginal communities from the Goldfields to the Kimberley were lifted.
The measures, imposed by the state government, required visitors to secure police approvals to enter communities.
Only applicants providing essential services and supplies were granted the approvals, with applicants needing to travel for education, emergencies, and family or cultural reasons also granted access.
This week Ardyaloon has welcomed its first visitors back.
While tourists have been allowed to visit its Aquaculture Hatchery – a major tourist attraction located within its boundaries — they weren't allowed to stop to buy fuel or food.
"But nobody died, nobody in hospital, so I think that was money well spent … just a small price to pay, effectively."
Empowerment a side effect
While police approvals are no longer required to enter at the state level, individual communities will still be able to apply their own restrictions.
For example, Ardyaloon will continue to use the permit system it had in place during the pandemic to monitor exactly who is entering and leaving their community and for what purpose.
Ardyaloon chairman Russell Davey said the pandemic had been a catalyst which strengthened the community's sense of agency to decide how it manages its own affairs.
Ready as ever
Mr Davey said the lockdown had been important because it had given the community time to prepare but believed now is the time to remove the formal government-imposed restrictions.
"Our community doesn't have no mining or anything..in this part of the country we rely a lot on our visitors," he said.
"We were just managing through but hopefully this year we can see big changes and work towards making it even better."
Local health authorities are confident that most remote communities are prepared to reopen should they choose to do so.
The 'new normal'
Kimberley Aboriginal Medical Service chief executive Vicki O'Donnell said many communities had learnt major lessons during the pandemic, which would guide their decision-making moving forward.
"I wouldn't say all of them are ready, but I think the majority are," she said.
"All of those things will still apply, communities will still enforce them to protect themselves, and we would support that 100 per cent."
Cause for caution
Ms O'Donnell urged travellers to be cautious because the threat of infection was not over. She also asked visitors to make sure they adhered to the individual rules set out by different communities.
"People should be vaccinated and take precautions," she said.
"So if we think we're out of the woods, we're not.
"We want to go back to normality in a COVID world … but it has to be done in a safe way."
