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Despite 20 tough years in jail, Kathleen Folbigg has no hatred in her heart and is finding joy in the small luxuries of everyday life, including touching animal fur and real crockery.
Her best friend Tracy Chapman said Folbigg's first night of freedom was spent on her northern NSW farm with the just-released woman figuring out how to watch television.
Folbigg, who has spent two decades in a technology time warp, was "bamboozled" by the iPhone and fascinated by streaming TV.
"She's going, 'oh my God, look at the television - it's got so many capabilities!'," Ms Chapman told reporters on Tuesday.
"I explained ... you don't have to sit there at 7:30 and watch the show any more.
"She was just like, 'I'm gonna be watching binge TV'."
Ms Chapman described Monday as "pandemonium" and Folbigg didn't have a chance to say goodbye to her prison friends.
The 55-year-old received an unconditional pardon and was released from Grafton jail after an inquiry heard new scientific evidence pointed to reasonable doubt about her guilt following her 2003 conviction over the deaths of her four children.
Ms Chapman said her friend harboured no hatred about her treatment and was overjoyed by her sudden freedom.
"She actually said to me this morning, 'my face muscles hurt from smiling so much'," she said.
Folbigg spent most of Monday on the farm getting to know the animals and was just happy to get her first "proper" sleep in 20 years.
"She slept for the first time in a real bed, had a cup of tea in a real crockery cup, real spoons to stir with," Ms Chapman said.
"That sounds basic to you all, but she's grateful. Decent tea, real milk."
However, there was no time to cook the dinner of T-bone steak Folbigg had dreamed of for years in jail. Instead, the party of about 12 settled for pizza.
But Folbigg did get one special request granted.
"She asked for a Kahlua and Coke. It was a flashback to the last 20 years," Ms Chapman said, laughing.
Lawyer Rhanee Rego said the next hurdle for Folbigg's legal team was to get her convictions quashed in the Court of Criminal Appeal, followed by compensation.
"She not only lost one child, she has lost four and been in jail for 20 years.
"The system has failed her at every step.
"Instead of trying to understand why her children died, potentially through an inquest ... we threw her in jail, locked her up and called her Australia's worst female serial killer."
Ms Rego rebuffed repeated questions about the potential size of any payout.
"In terms of compensation, which I know is on everyone's mind, it's too early right now," she said.
Just as Lindy Chamberlain protested her innocence, the former Hunter Valley hospitality worker always denied responsibility for the deaths of her children, Caleb, Patrick, Sarah and Laura, who were all under the age of two when they died between 1989 and 1999.
There is the prospect she will join a select few in Australia, including Ms Chamberlain, in being awarded seven-figure sums following wrongful convictions.
Robyn Blewer, director of the Griffith University Innocence Project, said the amount Folbigg received might depend on what the government was willing to pay.
NSW Premier Chris Minns said compensation wasn't for him to determine, but he agreed a price could not be placed on two decades in prison.
He said the law was not perfect, but the state's attorney-general had reached the right decision to free Folbigg following the public inquiry.
Greg Barns, from the Australian Lawyers Alliance, called for an independent body to be set up with powers to investigate claims of wrongful conviction.
Former chief justice Tom Bathurst is yet to release his final report into Folbigg's convictions following the inquiry.
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Kathleen Folbigg plans to binge-watch TV and enjoy a T-bone steak as she looks forward to her second night of freedom after 20 years behind bars.
The mother of four will spend the coming days on friend Tracy Chapman's northern NSW property as she comes to grips with how the world has changed over the past two decades.
Folbigg celebrated her release as "a victory for science" in an emotional video message released on Tuesday.
"I'm extremely humbled and extremely grateful for being pardoned and released from prison," she said, thanking her friends and family for their support.
The 55-year-old received an unconditional pardon and was freed from Grafton jail after an inquiry heard new scientific evidence pointed to reasonable doubt about her guilt following her 2003 conviction over the deaths of her four young children.
Folbigg said she had not stopped thinking about them during the years she spent in prison.
"(I) grieve for my children and I miss them and love them terribly," she said.
Ms Chapman said her friend, who had been living in a technology time warp, was "bamboozled" by the iPhone and fascinated by streaming TV.
Folbigg was also finding joy in the small luxuries of everyday life, including touching animal fur and real crockery.
"She spent a lot of time with my dogs and getting to know my animals," Ms Chapman said.
"We've had a lovely morning. We've been out with the horses."
Garlic bread, pizza and Kahlua and Coke were on the menu for Monday night before Ms Folbigg had her first "proper" sleep in 20 years.
Ms Chapman said her friend was overjoyed by her sudden freedom.
"She actually said to me this morning, 'my face muscles hurt from smiling so much'.
"She slept for the first time in a real bed, had a cup of tea in a real crockery cup, real spoons to stir with."
Lawyer Rhanee Rego said the next hurdle for Folbigg's legal team would be to get her convictions quashed in the Court of Criminal Appeal, followed by compensation.
"She not only lost one child, she has lost four and been in jail for 20 years," she said.
Just as Lindy Chamberlain protested her innocence, the former Hunter Valley hospitality worker always denied responsibility for the deaths of her children Caleb, Patrick, Sarah and Laura, who were all under the age of two when they died between 1989 and 1999.
There is the prospect she will join a select few in Australia, including Ms Chamberlain, in being awarded a seven-figure sum following wrongful convictions.
NSW Premier Chris Minns said compensation wasn't for him to determine but he agreed a price could not be placed on two decades in prison.
He said the law was not perfect, however the state's attorney-general had reached the right decision to free Folbigg following the public inquiry.
Folbigg's former husband has not publicly spoken about the case since her conviction and refused to be involved in the latest inquiry.
Craig Folbigg had not changed his view that Folbigg was guilty, his solicitor Danny Eid said.
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Australians are being urged to remain vigilant for "'sinister scammers" at tax time, with almost 20,000 suspicious reports made in the past year.
The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) has already received 19,843 reports of scams in the 2022-23 financial year.
An increase in scam activity is expected as taxpayers prepare to lodge their returns.
Financial Services Minister Stephen Jones said "sinister scammers" were targeting people at tax time.
"We urge people to remain vigilant to scams all year round, but especially at times when scammers are more likely to prey on individuals," he said.
"The Albanese government is fighting back against scammers."
Fraudsters may try to impersonate tax officials by contacting individuals via a link to a fake myGov login page.
Other methods include posing as the ATO on social media, and offering to help with tax and super questions.
The ATO does not send links to log in to their online services, or ask people to send personal information via social media, email or SMS.
The government announced last month an $86.5 million package to tackle scams and online fraud.
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The Reserve Bank of Australia board is set to make another tough interest rate decision in the fight against persistent but tempering inflation.
Board members will weigh up strong but somewhat unreliable monthly inflation data - which came in at 6.8 per cent in April, up from 6.3 per cent in March - as well as signs of an easing but still robust jobs market.
The central bank is also considering fresh wage data, which revealed pay packets growing at 3.7 per cent in the March quarter.
Assistant Treasurer Stephen Jones said the government was doing what it could to take pressure off inflation.
"We understand that households and businesses are doing it tough, which is why in this latest budget we put such an emphasis on providing some practical cost-of-living relief measures - medicines, health care, child care, energy - practical things that we can do without blowing up the inflation problem," Mr Jones told AAP on Tuesday.
Wage growth alone is unlikely to worry the RBA, which is comfortable with wages hitting a peak of four per cent annual growth.
But Governor Philip Lowe remains concerned about unit labour costs - the difference between wages growth and productivity growth.
Dr Lowe told a federal parliamentary hearing last week that sluggish productivity growth, not wages, was complicating the RBA's job of returning inflation to its two to three per cent target.
Some economists have also flagged the Fair Work Commission's minimum wage decision as a possible cause for concern that could push pay packets higher than the RBA can manage.
But Workplace Minister Tony Burke said the minimum wage rise of 8.6 per cent would not lead to higher inflation.
He said the argument that those on the minimum wage would cause inflation to spike did not stack up.
"Some people effectively (have wanted) to blame workers for any decision that the Reserve Bank might make," Mr Burke told ABC Radio.
"The people affected by the annual wage review are the people on the lowest incomes. They're the people relying on it."
Shadow treasurer Angus Taylor said the government needed to prioritise bringing down inflation.
"The sad reality is the Reserve Bank is under enormous pressure now to raise interest rates," he told ABC TV.
"There is enormous pressure on cost of living out there and that means there's pressure on interest rates and, sadly, we are in a position where the expectations of markets and economists say we're going to see more pain."
Against a backdrop of economic complexity and uncertainty, most experts agree there is a live debate between a pause and another 25 basis point hike when the RBA board meets on Tuesday afternoon.
A survey of 39 economists by comparison site Finder found slightly more than half expect the cash rate to stay on hold at 3.85 per cent.
Another hike would likely take the cash rate to 4.1 per cent and mark the 12th interest rate rise since May 2022.
For mortgage holders, another 25 basis points would add an extra $1217 to monthly repayments, cumulatively, on the standard $500,000, 30-year home loan.
© AAP 2023
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