Schapelle Cory arrived in Brisbane this morning to a media frenzy as waiting press pull out all the stops trying to hunt her down and score the first interview.
Her arrival home comes 13 years after she was convicted of drug smuggling in Bali and sentenced to 20 years in prison.
Corby has been playing a cat and mouse game with media since departing Bali last night, switching her flight at the last minute and evading the 40 journalists who had booked tickets on her original Virgin Airlines flight.
While the members of the media eagerly awaited for her to board their plane, Corby and her sister Mercedes were hopping onto a Malindo Air flight at the gate next door.
Corby was given a 100-man police escort to the Denpasar airport, but had her own private security team waiting for her arrival in Australia.
Press were disappointed again when she managed to escape the Brisbane airport in a convoy of at least nine black vans that then split up to cause a divergence, with some heading towards Corby’s mother’s home on the Gold Coast, others to a KFC on the M1 motorway, and another – thought to be carrying Corby – to the Sofitel hotel in Brisbane city.
Corby has already posted her first update to her new Instagram account since landing, appearing to poke fun at the media with a video of a cameraman in Bali falling off a wall as he tried to catch a glimpse of her before she left Denpasar.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BUnFeKSDVzc/
The media attention has divided opinions on whether Corby should be ignored or revered for her return home.
While convicted criminals are often treated with contempt, Corby has a pack of supporters who are celebrating her return home after what they believe is years on unjust treatment.
TV stations and magazines are fighting for the first interview and have spared no expense in going to extreme measures to try to get close to her.
Journalists have been seen running through the streets and even broadcasting live reports from the back of a ute as they chased Corby’s armoured car in Bali.
Schapelle Corby travelling to Denpasar airport. https://t.co/jVeJgL9Nw0 @AshleaBrown7 #Corby #7News pic.twitter.com/ulncq3aTMW
— 7NEWS Sydney (@7NewsSydney) May 27, 2017
With social media alight with talk of Corby’s arrival this morning though, it appears their efforts are working as Aussies around the country tune in to watch it all play out.
There has been fierce debate online over the relentless coverage with some arguing the media is feeding Corby’s story and giving it unwarranted attention, and others saying they are just showing people what they want to see.