Sam Muir is an Alice Springs teacher and has not seen his Italian wife Roberta Scaramuzzino and their three young boys Marcello, Federico, and Alessio since January.
He left them in Italy nearly 10 months ago to return to Australia and his local high school, completely unaware that world travel was about to come to a grinding halt thanks to the global pandemic.
Before anyone had even heard of coronavirus, both Mr Muir and his wife decided that while their boys were still young it was a good opportunity to not only see his wife's side of the family but also immerse their children in southern Italian culture.
"We set them up in school there so they basically live and experience life there," Mr Muir said.
"I was meant to go back for about a month in March and April."
The COVID-19 pandemic then swept through Italy with very little to no warning and everything went into lockdown.
"We tried to stay as rational as we could. The whole concept from the beginning was 'if you could stay where you were and stay safe, stay there'," Mr Muir said.
Despite being in lockdown, he said his family have made the most of the time.
"We've tried to focus on the silver linings of it — the original intention was to learn language and have time with family," he said.
"They did that, but they didn't get to do it in the way that anyone would want to."
Getting home
The Muir family had return tickets booked for July, but those were cancelled by the airline in May.
The family attempted to re-book for September after the Northern Territory reopened its borders, but the prices were astronomical at over $30,000.
"We have tickets for November … we've secured business class tickets for the family to come back through Qatar into Adelaide," Mr Muir said.
"But as of yesterday, Qatar airlines have started adjusting those flights.
"They now have a 24 hour wait in Doha … which now has affected the quarantining time, and they have to stay in the airport."
Mr Muir is apprehensive about whether his wife and sons will be able to get on that flight at all.
"The fear is now that if they've started changing the tickets, does it fall apart?" he said.
Mr Muir said the information he received from a travel agent was worrying if they can not get on that flight in November.
"There is absolutely no space on any flight available on Qatar airlines, into any port into Australia for the family, until at least Christmas or early January," he said.
Emotional cost
The emotional cost is enormous.
"I haven't seen my kids for nine months and they haven't seen their dad for nine months," he said.
"There's no real end in sight to the whole concept."
In Mr Muir's opinion, Australia acted accordingly to the global pandemic.
"The band-aid of closing the borders off at the beginning was the right thing to do to keep everyone safe," he said.
"It allowed time for governments to find their feet and work out what they were dealing with."
However, Mr Muir questioned the sustainability of the current plan.
"The current system is not a long-term solution to the ongoing problem," he said.
"Why can't people be tested at domestic borders and at international arrivals?"
Political intervention
Mr Muir has formally put his concerns into a letter to Senator Malarndirri McCarthy, who recently become aware of his family's plight thanks to a recent Go Fund Me campaign launched by Mr Muir's friends.
In a statement, Senator McCarthy said:
"My office has been busy trying to assist Territorians stranded overseas. Sam Muir's family is one of many the Morrison Government have abandoned," she said.
"Like many Territorians, Sam just wants his family home safe. Territory families returning from overseas should be able to fly into Darwin and quarantine at the Howard Springs facility.
"Scott Morrison is the one who could make this happen, but he is refusing to act.
"I am continuing to liaise with Government agencies and departments to assist Sam in getting his family back home."
