Schapelle Corby’s mum worries about how she will cope returning home
Schapelle Corby's mother Rosleigh Rose worries about her daughter's return to Australia. Photo: AAP
The mother of convicted drug smuggler Schapelle Corby is looking forward to her daughter’s return to Australian, but is worried about how she will cope.
Schapelle Corby’s mother, Rosleigh Rose, is worried about how the convicted drug smuggler will adjust to life back in Australia when she finally returns home more than a decade after her arrest.
The 39-year-old is expected to be deported from Bali on the weekend after her parole ends for smuggling 4.1kg of cannabis in a boogie board in 2004.
“When she gets here and settles in, we’ll just have to make sure we get her out and about,” she told the Courier Mail on Thursday.
She said Schapelle had been holed up in her Bali home because of the media attention.
“We’ll be trying to get her back into the swing of things so she feels confident.”
She said no media deal had been made for Corby to discuss her return, but would not rule out one down the line.
It also hasn’t been determined where she will stay once she returns. Her mother lives in Loganlea south of Brisbane and sister Mercedes lives on the Gold Coast.
She said Schapelle had “mixed emotions” about returning to Australia, but couldn’t do anything about it.
But Ms Rose, who has not seen Schapelle in person for two years, is thrilled she is coming home.
“I’m getting excited now – it’s been 12-and-a-half years coming,” Ms Rose said.
Corby was sentenced to 20 years’ in Bali’s notorious Kerobokan jail and before being released on parole in February 2014.
Family can sell Corby’s story: lawyer
While Corby cannot cash in on the nine years she spent imprisoned in Bali, her family can, according to a Melbourne lawyer.
But if the family is paid for media interviews when Corby returns to Australia almost 13 years after her arrest at Denpasar Airport, authorities will keep a close eye on the money trail, proceeds of crime expert Christian Juebner told AAP.
“Schapelle Corby can’t make money as a result of her notoriety … arising from her offending but other people can,” he said.
“If, ultimately, it’s proved that the money flowed back to Schapelle Corby or she received some benefit – it doesn’t have to be actual money, just some commercial benefit – then the restraining order [on the funds] could be made.”
Media outlets will have an “enormous appetite” for the Corby story, publicist and celebrity booker Max Markson said.
“There is not a newspaper, magazine, radio station or website in Australia who won’t want to sit down with her, talk to her,” he said.
“She will be invited to go on I’m A Celebrity … Get Me Out of Here! She will be invited to go on all sorts of weird and wonderful programs.”
But Mr Markson said it was unclear what price a Corby exclusive would fetch.
“I don’t think there are millions of dollars around in the media to pay for a one-off story,” he said.
Nine Network’s 60 Minutes would not comment on whether it was in talks with the Corby family about an interview.
The Ten and Seven networks and Seven’s Pacific Magazines arm, which owns New Idea, were also contacted for comment.
Schapelle’s mother Rosleigh Rose says no deal has been done for her daughter’s return, but left the option open for later on.
– With AAP