THE simple things in life outside of a jail cell have brought joy to Kathleen Folbigg who enjoyed her first night of freedom last night after 20 years behind bars.
Ms Folbigg stayed with her long-time friend and fierce advocate Tracy Chapman at her farm in Grafton, who said this morning she was lost for words.
"Yesterday was such a rush ... it was one of those surreal days," Ms Chapman said.
"Neither of us could believe it, there was this moment that was just in slow motion yesterday ... a lull... and it was like, oh my god, you're here."
The two women were just feeling very grateful, she said, enjoying each other's company, and Ms Folbigg had been spending time getting to know her dogs and her many animals.
"We didn't get our steak for dinner which was a bugger. We had a pizza and garlic bread.
"We didn't get our steak for dinner which was a bugger. We had a pizza and garlic bread.
They also had a flashback to 20 years ago when Ms Folbigg asked for a Kahluah and coke, her first alcoholic beverage.
That was followed by a string of basic firsts after 20 years - a decent cup of tea in a "real crockery cup", with real milk, and real spoons.
She slept in a real bed last night ... she said it's the first time she has been able to sleep properly in 20 years ... she was able to turn over in her bed and not wake herself up."
Too little sleep, Ms Chapman said, because they were all "running on adrenaline", but lots of laughter with a crowd of about ten to 12 people in the house.
They were up at daybreak, hoping to see a sunrise which was washed out due to rain overnight, but they had had a lovely morning, visiting Ms Chapman's horses, and giving them a hug which had "filled Kath's heart up", she said.
Tracy Chapman never gave up on her friend Kathleen Folbigg. Finally, after 20 yrs , Kath's voice has been heard and has been granted a pardon. This picture taken moments after 2 best friends were reunited. It's been a privilege to be involved with this. pic.twitter.com/y4AfdRBsR5
— brigid glanville (@brigidglanville) June 6, 2023
"She actually said to me this morning she has sore facial muscles from smiling so much."
Ms Folbigg's lawyer Rhanee Rego, described Ms Folbigg's unconditional pardon and release yesterday as a huge moment in a long and painful, 24-year journey.
"The state has done the unimaginable to Kathleen Folbigg, they have put her in prison when she lost her four children," Ms Rego said.
"This is a tragic story, but Kathleen is an example of a broader problem in the system, and if Australia really wants to make some good from a tragic story, they will seriously consider reviewing their post-conviction system, the same system which took too long to get to today.
"Ms Folbigg is grateful, she has no hatred, she is grateful that she is released today, and we urge everyone to give her her privacy while she enjoys her first bit of freedom ....
"She will be just honouring the memory of her children as she has done every day for the past 24 years."
Her legal team would be talking about next steps soon but it was too early to say what that would be, outside of seeking to have Ms Folbigg's conviction quashed in the Court of Criminal Appeal.
Whether the application was brought by former NSW chief Justice Tom Bathurst, whose memo at the end of a second inquiry into Ms Folbigg's convictions sparked her release, or by the governor, or via an application from the legal team itself, Ms Rego said.
"In terms of compensation, which I know is on everyone's mind, it's too early, right now, Kathleen is still having a cup of tea, acquainting herself with normal life, and we're just getting used to talking to her out of prison," she said.
"We're just taking it one step at a time.
"In due course we will certainly be thinking about all options available to her."
They included civil action against the state or an ex-gratia payment, she said.
"We haven't spoken to Ms Folbigg about this, she is very much trying to focus on taking one step in front of the other [sic] and not rushing things because she has just been waiting to feel the grass under her feet, look at the sky and watch the sunrise for the first time in 20 years, and we won't be rushing her."
It was unimaginable, what Ms Folbigg had been through, she said.
"The system has failed her at every step, instead of trying to understand why her children died, potentially through an inquest which could have happened all the way back in 2001, we threw her in jail, locked her up, called her Australia's worst serial killer - put her in solitary, it's unimaginable, and none of us can put ourselves in Kathleen's shoes, we can't inhabit her grief, no one can, and that's what makes it so hard to believe."
There were so many things which could have been done better with regards to Ms Folbigg's case, Ms Chapman said, including the way in which she was released.
Ms Chapman said she didn't get much notice, that she was coming out the door and that she would be there in 40 minutes.
"I was kind of cursing, because I was thinking, this is not how this was supposed to happen ... it was just chaos."
There were a lot of people her friend didn't get to say goodbye to, and who she would miss, Ms Chapman said.
"We would have appreciated a bit more notice," she said.
"There's so many things she will say about that eventually, but I just know that ... talking around her, talking above her, but not talking to her ... finally she gets to be a person that is addressed, not just by us but by people in the system ..."
Ms Chapman called for more empathy and humanity among those handling aspects of Ms Folbigg's journey, calling on all those involved to "be the most humane beings we can be."
In the meantime, Ms Folbigg had a busy day ahead of her, Ms Chapman said, as she hadn't yet visited all of the animals on her farm.
"We've got chicken tours, we've got to cuddle some guinea pigs today, yeah, there's lots," she said.
"It's sort of hard to explain how she's felt, being incarcerated for all these years. She's just savouring ... catching up on some long lost sleep and being surrounded by the people that she cares about.
"There's no hate in Kath's heart, she just wants to able to live a life she's missed for the last 20 years and move on.
"She's looking forward to starting afresh."
