As the Covid wave approaches remote WA, a population heads to the bush for protection

The reasons for hesitancy are manifold. Online misinformation and propaganda (much of it linked to evangelical churches in the US) has been virulent, especially on youth-oriented social media platforms such as TikTok, and in church groups.

For the older generation who grew up under the white Australia policy, mistrust in the government is strong, and many families remain semi-nomadic, moving frequently around the region.

Many have also struggled to take the virus seriously, with no major outbreaks in the region since the beginning of the pandemic.

Malcolm, 54, is a former stockman and homeless. Like many Indigenous Australians he is immunocompromised. Yet he has no intention of getting vaccinated.

In Balgo, the locals are planning to bus elderly and immunocompromised people to outstations in the bush when Covid hits. Regular food and medicine drops will be supplied by road, and by air if the roads are cut by flood waters.

In the west Kimberley, once abandoned outstations and remote communities are being repopulated by families who have left Broome, Perth and the larger Kimberley towns to wait out the pandemic and reconnect with family and country.

In the coastal communities of Derby and Kalumburu, hand reels, sinkers and hooks are being offered as an incentive to get vaccinated, while in the desert communities grocery vouchers and meat packs are on offer, as well as T-shirts, mini-coolers, hats and regular community barbecues.

When the internet and phone lines went down in Halls Creek recently, the local health service used the time to corral locals for their jabs, doing laps around the footy oval, supermarket and petrol station offering lifts to the clinic.

And in the wet season, which runs from December to March, smaller airstrips are often flooded and unusable.

For Menzel, preparing for Covid has highlighted the fragile and insecure health infrastructure of the region. Wyndham hospital, in the east Kimberley, is operating on reduced hours as it cannot get enough staff. The region relies heavily on locums, as it routinely fails to attract long-term, permanent health staff.

Though the region is looking at a trying few months ahead, Menzel sees some cause for optimism.