By Natassia Chrysanthos, Marissa Calligeros, Zach Hope, Amilia Rosa and Marta Pascual Juanola
Scott Rush was smiling as he left Bangli Narcotics jail, in Bali’s north, for the final time last Friday. “He was happy, of course. But not overly emotional,” said Agus Setiawan, a prison officer.
“Scott didn’t have many things he carried back with him – a few clothes and books. In a cell, you don’t really have much space. We received instructions for him to be taken immediately to Kerobokan prison [near Denpasar] that Friday afternoon. He said thank you and said goodbye to us [prison officials].”
Scott Rush in Denpasar district court in Bali in 2006.Credit: AP
Rush was delivered to the prison in Denpasar where Si-Yi Chen and Matthew Norman, also from the infamous Bali Nine, were serving time after their arrest in 2005 for trying to smuggle more than eight kilograms of heroin out of Indonesia. Two days later, they joined Michael Czugaj and Martin Stephens, held in east Java, to embark on a Jetstar flight to Darwin and set foot in Australia as free men for the first time in almost two decades.
As Rush farewelled prison guards on Friday, his parents in Australia did not know moves were finally afoot to bring their son home. Speculation was rife for weeks that a deal with Indonesia could be done by Christmas. But it wasn’t until Sunday that the families knew for sure: the day Rush, 39, touched down on home soil for the first time since he was 19.
That was when Timothy Harris, the Catholic Bishop of Townsville who has long advocated for the Rush family, received an anonymous text message: “Wheels up, the Bali 5 are on their way back to Australia”. He immediately picked up the phone to Rush’s father.
“I said, ‘Lee, isn’t this wonderful?’,” Harris said. “They were stunned, but happily so. They’re taking this in their stride. They’ve been hoping for this for a long, long time and I don’t think they ever thought it was going to happen.”
Martin Stephens, Michael Czugaj, Scott Rush, Matthew Norman and Si-Yi Chen look on as Australia and Indonesia sign an agreement for their return home.
But Rush’s parents, Lee and Christine, have had no contact with their son in the 24 hours since his arrival. The five men were taken straight from Darwin Airport to the Howard Springs facility – where thousands of Australians quarantined during the pandemic – after arriving on Sunday afternoon with no fanfare.
The men will stay at the expansive facility, made up of a series of demountable buildings separated by fencing, for an undisclosed period of time before they walk free in the Australian community. Several cars, most of them service vehicles, were seen driving in and out of the centre on Monday morning.
Officials said the men would receive health checks, be able to access support services and continue their rehabilitation at Indonesia’s request. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on Monday said that no payback conditions were written into the deal that secured the men’s return following years of delicate negotiations.
“I had the opportunity to speak to a number of the parents last night of these people,” Albanese said. “They are grateful that their sons have been able to return home. They did a serious crime and they have rightly paid a serious price for it.”
The so-called ringleaders of the Bali Nine, Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran, were executed in 2015, and Renae Lawrence was released in 2018. Tan Duc Thanh Nguyen died from cancer in 2018.
‘The nightmare isn’t over’
Harris said that Rush’s parents were focusing on how to help their son integrate into Australian society after almost 20 years. Rush’s parents had been the ones to tip off the Australian Federal Police about their son’s crime, hoping he would be stopped from leaving Australia.
“The nightmare in some ways isn’t over,” Harris said. “They’re under no illusions as to what they themselves will need to do. They’re still trying to work that out, because here’s your lost son – to use a biblical image – who’s come home, and here they are with outstretched arms ready to hug [him].”
Harris said Australians should understand the process would not be easy for the men. “As I understand it, they haven’t had a shower – a proper shower – for 20 years,” he said.
“How do you reintegrate someone … into an environment that’s changed, because you yourself have changed, he’s changed, the parents have changed, the family’s changed, Australia’s changed.”
Putu Murdiana, division head of Bali corrections, said the men were happy to go home. “We talked about the past 20 years, how they were during their prison times, the programs they went through, programs they helped set up and assist, what they learned,” he said on Monday.
“Matthew [Norman] said [in Indonesian], ‘I am overwhelmed. It’s happening so fast, I am out of words to say, I am speechless. I am happy I am going home’.”
But he said the men also felt an attachment to Indonesia, “to the people they met, the family bond they formed, like with the prison officers, other inmates … They had to say goodbye to them at the same time.”
Kerobokan Prison doctor Agung Hartawan, who had looked after all nine at various times since 2005, said on Monday they had left so swiftly that he did not get a chance to say goodbye or take the farewell photograph that he had planned.
“I started my shift this morning – I was on leave since Thursday – and only then I learned that the Bali Nine have all gone home,” he said.
But he was elated they had finally been released. He formed his strongest relationships with Norman and Chen because they were in Kerobokan the longest, often joking that he was tired of looking at them and it was time for them to leave.
“For almost 20 years, I’ve known them. Matthew was just a teenager then. I am happy they are back home ... I would like to say goodbye and safe journey. I hope they get to start anew.”
Melbourne pastor Christie Buckingham, who walked with Sukumaran in the moments before his execution, said the men had received a second chance. “[It is] an opportunity for these men to reintegrate into society, contribute meaningfully, and demonstrate the growth they have undergone over two decades.”
‘It’s going to take some time’
Education Minister Jason Clare said on Monday the men’s rehabilitation process was under way in Darwin. “When you’ve been in prison for the best part of two decades, it’s going to take some time for these men to rehabilitate and to reintegrate into Australian society,” he said.
The Indonesian wives of two of the men, Norman and Stephens, had not followed them to Australia. “If their partners wish to come to Australia, then that would be the subject of the normal visa-processing requirements,” Clare said.
Opposition Leader Peter Dutton sympathised with the men and their families on Monday. “At a personal level, and for their families, particularly coming into Christmas, you can understand the excitement and the relief that they’ll have,” he said.
But he said they did not return as heroes. “They haven’t been in political captivity – they have been sentenced under the rules of law that operate in that country for trying to import heroin,” he said.
“I think the most important message is for young Australians who are travelling to Bali or Asia or indeed anywhere in the world: that you can make a decision which can result in 20 years of your life being taken away from you – and the most important 20 years.”
Dutton did not question the government for securing the men’s release on Monday. Shadow attorney-general Michaelia Cash had initially demanded to know what had been extracted from Australia in exchange for the deal, before details were made public.
Albanese, when asked on Monday if there was any “payback arrangement” with Indonesia, said “no”.
“This is an act of compassion by President Prabowo and we thank him for it. After 19 years in Indonesian prison, it was time for them to come home.”
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