Theres a lot of pro/against WA chat here, with a whole lot of underlying agendas...
From my viewpoint, I've always been of the view that we need to live with it, but you've got to understand where we've got to in the last couple of years. The WA economy has been absolutely massive over the last 2 years. Accomodation booked out everywhere, and most retail up to 50% above "normal" levels. To be honest, a lot of professionals, trades & retail are just exhausted, but keep going as we're waiting to fall in to the hole... We take each day as it comes, literally...
I get the family separation thing. We've had 3 out of 4 parents with cancer scares (in NSW) this year. I ducked over to Sydney for 4 days in July to pep up my mum, the day the Bondi breakout started. I got back 2 days before the border shut. We've booked 2 sets of flights at Xmas for 2 years now, one to Sydney, one to Broome. We haven't got to use the Sydney ones yet...
I think a key difference is that people of WA are CHOOSING to step off the cliff of letting it enter our communities. Just about all other states have had it thrust upon them via various scenarios. This is a voluntary leap of faith and there is a large amount of community apprehension.
So much ill feeling on both sides is driven by politics. It's quite sad really...
Chris

