Never Forget What They Did Diane Lee

Andrea – a Queenslander – and her husband had taken their two youngest sons to Germany (the country where she was born) in early 2019, and was there when the pandemic was declared in March 2020. While she stayed in Germany with her sons, her husband returned to Queensland to be near their oldest son, who was in university and to look after his business interests, but was back and forward between Australia and Europe. Deciding it was better to stay put in Germany, it was in March 2021 that Andrea had no choice but to come back to Australia with her middle son. Her husband had passed away suddenly five weeks after volunteering to complete hotel quarantine with her youngest son, who had wanted to come home in January. She didn't get back until June 2021. This is Andrea's story.
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Peter was in south-west China when the pandemic was declared, on a regular business trip and visiting his wife's family. Already experiencing lockdowns in China from early 2020 even before the pandemic was declared, Peter heeded the early advice from the Morrison government to shelter in place. Arriving in China in January 2020 and booked to return to Australia in July 2020, and likening the pandemic to SARS which was over in a few months, Peter didn't think it would take him, his wife and daughter 18 months to get home. Exiting China was a fraught exercise, and the deteriorating relationship between China and Australia adding to the complexity. And once he did get back, his family were forced into hotel quarantine – a nightmare because both he and his daughter suffered from anxiety. This is Peter's story.
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A Kiwi, but now back in New Zealand, Raewyn was living in Victoria with her husband when the pandemic was declared. With most of her family in New Zealand, including parents and children, being able to leave Australia quickly was a concern. Towards the end of 2020, and between work contracts, Raewyn decided to return to New Zealand, but because of the flight caps, she didn't get there until May 2021. Worried that Australia would close its borders to New Zealand – she felt she had no choice but to go and she ended up being stuck for eight months. To return to Victoria, she flew into Brisbane where she was forced into hotel quarantine. This is Raewyn's story.
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With business interests that takes him all over the world, Daniel found himself stuck in Zambia in August 2021, trying to get back home to Perth, Western Australia. Unfortunately for him, he was impacted by not only Australia's international flights caps, but also the "South African" variant that was scaring governments and public health officials around the globe. Exiting Zambia via Johannesburg in October, after the restrictions around South Africa relaxed, Daniel then had to fly to Brisbane. But with borders firmly closed between states and territories, he found himself caught in the bureaucratic nightmare that was Western Australia's G2G pass and COVID testing. This is Daniel's story.
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Judy and her partner, a Kiwi, moved to New Zealand in November 2019. With family in both countries it was their intention to go back and forth between the two. Stuck in New Zealand in 2020 when the pandemic was declared, she rode out it out there, not anticipating it would go on for as long as it did. It wasn't until 2021 when New Zealand and Australia established a travel bubble, and her partner had come back to Australia for work, that Judy attempted to return. She packed up her home and gave up her job in anticipation of the bubble staying open. It didn't. This is Judy's story.
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Carl had been living in the UK since 2005 but came back to Australia regularly to visit his mother – who lives in Queensland – and to take care of his tenanted property. When his mother was diagnosed with terminal cancer in July 2020, he scrambled to get home. While he found a flight back, the Queensland government refused him entry because his mother's impending death wasn't "a sufficient reason". Fast forward a year, and the Queensland government permitted his entry because his property needed repair and it satisfied their "financial need" criteria. And then the horrors of hotel quarantine. This is Carl's story.
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