The remaining members of the so-called Bali Nine have touched down in Brisbane and will each be returning to their home states of Queensland, NSW and Victoria.
Indonesia’s former President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo refused to let the five men go, leaving them behind bars in an Indonesian prison for nearly 20 years.
It was not until Australian Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese, made a deal with current Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto that Matthew Norman, Scott Rush, Martin Stephens, Si Yi Chen, and Michael Czugaj were released on humanitarian grounds.
Albanese has since thanked Subianto for his act of compassion and said he hopes Australia can keep working alongside Indonesia.
“I want to express my gratitude to President Prabowo for Indonesia’s cooperation and commitment to working with Australia on this matter,” he said in a statement.
“Australia respects Indonesia's sovereignty and legal processes and we appreciate Indonesia’s compassionate consideration of this matter.
“The Government will continue to cooperate with Indonesia to counter narcotics trafficking and transnational crime.
“This outcome reflects the very strong relationship that exists between Indonesia and Australia.”
The five men were among nine Australians arrested in Bali in 2005 for attempting to smuggle 8.7kg of heroin to Australia.
Myuran Sukumaran and Andrew Chan were executed in 2015, Renae Lawrence was allowed to return home in 2018 and Tan Duc Thanh Nguyen died from cancer the same year.
