Bali Nine member Matthew Norman is spotted for the first time after starting his new life in Australia – as surprise woman on his arm could answer huge question about his return
Bali Nine drug smuggler Matthew Norman has been seen with his Indonesian wife Anita in Australia for the first time since he was released from jail.
Norman and Anita appeared in high spirits as they attended church with friends at Torquay, in Victoria, on Sunday morning.
The Bali Nine member wore a loose fitting black shirt with grey pants while his partner opted for a vibrant look with a yellow top and summer skirt.
Questions had been raised on whether Norman would be forced to live apart from his wife and stepdaughter, 15, following his release from an Indonesian jail cell.
Anita and her daughter can travel to Australia through normal visa application processes, but it remains unclear if they will be allowed to permanently stay in the country.
Norman arrived in Melbourne just before Christmas and is believed to be living in a waterfront mansion in Torquay, a popular tourist town known for its surf beaches.
The $4million two-storey home has four-bedrooms and is just a stone’s throw from Cosy Corner, a beach popular with families because of its calm swells.
The property is owned by Christian couple Ann and Alan Wilkins who offered it to Norman after forming a close relationship while he was in prison.
Convicted Bali Nine drug smuggler Matthew Norman has been seen with his Indonesian wife Anita for the first time since he was released from jail. The couple is pictured
Norman married his Indonesian girlfriend Anita (pictured) at the Kerobokan jail in 2014
Norman was sentenced to death in 2006 after he was caught trying to smuggle more than 8kg of heroin out of Bali. The sentence was reduced to life in prison in 2008
Norman was sentenced to death in 2006 after he was caught trying to smuggle more than 8kg of heroin out of Bali. The sentence was reduced to life in prison in 2008.
He married his Indonesian girlfriend Anita – who he met while in prison – at the Kerobokan jail in 2014. She has travelled to Australia with her daughter Stella, 15.
Just 18-years-old at the time of his arrest, Norman is the youngest member of the Bali Nine, three of whom are dead – two executed and one who died from cancer.
He left school aged 16 because he wanted to work and make money rather than finish his HSC and later said he had been ‘reckless, callous, wanted to cut corners in life’.
Just a naive teenager when he was first locked up in Kerobokan jail, Norman learnt his incarceration had a serious effect on his family back home.
One of his sisters became anorexic, another was harassed because of her brother’s crime, and his parents got hate mail.
He was one of just two of the original Bali Nine who remained in Kerobokan until his release, where he designed t-shirts, bags and posters and applied for sentence reductions.
He admitted that every day was ‘just a struggle to keep doing good things’ amid the ‘chaos’ of prison.
Norman, along with Scott Rush, Michael Czugaj, Martin Stephens and Si Yi Chen were all released from prison in Indonesia last month, after being jailed almost 20 years ago.
Bali Nine member Matthew Norman is pictured left and his wife Anita is pictured right
The couple, who married in Kerobokan prison in 2014, is pictured with family and friends on Sunday
Matthew Norman (left) looked happy and relieved after spending almost 20 years in jail for drug smuggling
Norman (pictured) was one of just two of the original Bali Nine who remained in Kerobokan until his release, where he designed t-shirts, bags and posters
They were transferred home to Australia after the federal government struck a deal with Indonesia in a top secret mission following weeks of negotiations.
The development came after Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese requested the transfer at a meeting with new Indonesian president Prabowo Subianto at the APEC Summit in November.
Mr Subianto agreed to let the prisoners free on humanitarian grounds.
Tan Duc Thanh Nguyen, another of the Bali Nine drug mules who had collectively attempted to smuggle 8.7kg of heroin, died from stomach cancer behind bars in 2018.
Chan and Sukumaran were executed in 2015, while Renae Lawrence was released after serving 13 years.
On December 30, Rush learned his fate in relation to a string of crimes committed 20 years ago.
Supported by his parents Lee and Christine, Rush appeared in Brisbane Magistrates Court last Monday to face historical charges which happened before his 2005 arrest at Bali Airport.
The now 39-year-old pleaded guilty to charges of fraud, receiving tainted property and entering premises, all committed when he was 19, the Courier-Mail reported.
Rush pleaded guilty to seven counts of theft from homes across Brisbane, where he stole cash, a hearing aid, a Nintendo GameBoy, Nokia mobile phones and jewellery in March 2005.
He also pleaded guilty to unlawful use of a Toyota sedan that month, to twice defrauding Cash Converters in late 2004, and to receiving stolen property and failing to appear in court in April 2005.
The court heard that Rush committed most of the crimes while he was subject to suspended sentences ranging from one month to two months’ jail, issued in January 2005.
He was a drug addict at the time, which months later led to him being arrested in Bali and spending almost two decades in jail, the court heard.
His solicitor Terry Fisher asked the court if Rush could be convicted but not sentenced, noting the two decades he had spent in jail already.
The police prosecutor Matthew Bach agreed with the submission and Magistrate Patricia Kirkman-Scroope convicted Rush for 13 offences, but did not further punish him.
