Bali Anthony Albanese is under pressure to answer crucial question as nine prisoners prepare to return home after almost 20 years behind bars in Indonesia

The opposition has demanded Prime Minister Anthony Albanese reveal details of an agreement with the Indonesian government to bring the five surviving Bali Nine prisoners back to Australia.

Matthew Norman, Martin Stephens, Si Yi Chen, Scott Rush and Michael Czugaj are serving life sentences. He spent almost 20 years behind bars in prisons in Indonesia and Bali.

In 2005, the group and four other Australians were arrested while trying to smuggle 8.3kg of heroin strapped to their bodies off the holiday island.

Shadow attorney general Michaelia Cash told Sky News on Sunday it was ‘inexplicable’ that Mr Albanese did not detail what Australia had given Indonesia to send five prisoners home.

‘What’s the deal?’ he asked.

‘What did he come up with regarding the agreement? What is Australia giving up regarding the agreement? How much will it cost the Australian taxpayer?

‘Will they continue to serve their sentences because they were sentenced to life imprisonment in Indonesia? Will they continue to serve them in Australia? If not, why not?

Mr Albanese had lobbied former Indonesian President Joko Widodo and then current President Prabowo Subianto for ‘months’ to get the deal done.

Anthony Albanese (pictured centre-left, partner Jodie right) reportedly lobbied former Indonesian president Joko Widodo (pictured centre-right with Iriana) to secure the deal

Trade minister Don Farrell said the offer to the Indonesian government was not to “let these people out of prison” and that they would continue to serve their sentences in Australia.

He said he could not comment further but Mr Albanese was trying to represent the ‘interests of Australians abroad’.

‘Discussions continue. “It’s clear the Prime Minister is advocating on behalf of these young Australians and we’ll see what happens in the coming days and weeks,” Mr Farrell said.

Ms Cash said details were ‘very light’ on whether the five Australians would face life sentences when they returned home.

‘Mr Albanese needs to be front and center with the Australian people,’ he said.

‘What is the nature of the agreement to bring back Australians convicted by an Indonesian court as part of a heroin drug trafficking ring?’

Greens Senator Sarah Hanson-Young described the shadow attorney general’s remarks as ‘cruel and heartless’ on ABC program The Insiders.

‘I mean cruel and heartless, frankly. Cruel and heartless. If you want to get an idea of ​​what a Peter Dutton government would look like, this is it,’ Ms Hanson-Young said.

Pictured from Top Left: Myuran Sukumaran, Scott Rush, Tach Duc Thanh Nguyen, Renae Lawrence and Bottom: Si Yi Chen, Matthew Norman, Michael Czugaj, Martin Stephen and Andrew Chan

‘Don’t be fooled by Dutton’s disguise as a lamb.’

On Friday, Legal Affairs, Human Rights, Immigration and Corrections Coordinator Yusril Ihza Mahendra told The Weekend Australian Anthony Albanese had requested the prisoners be transferred to Australia.

‘The President of Indonesia said that they are currently reviewing and processing the matter and this is expected to be done in December,’ he said.

He added that Australian Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke had previously requested ‘the transfer to Australia of Australian citizens convicted of drug offenses and serving sentences in various prisons’.

Tan Duc Thanh Nguyen, another Bali Nine member arrested in the first raid, died of cancer in 2018, while Renae Lawrence was released the same year after her life sentence was reduced to 20 years on appeal.

The masterminds of the drug scheme, Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran, were executed by firing squad on Nusa Kambangan, or ‘Prison Island,’ in 2015.