I have followed the Bali Nine case for 20 years. This is not about taking sides, except the side of time | Madonna King

Kim Beazley took over from Mark Latham as federal opposition leader in 2005 ; the same year nine young Australians tried to smuggle 8.7kg of heroin into Australia .

The Bali Nine’s Australian ringleaders Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran were 21 and 24 .

Renae Lawrence was 27 . Tan Duc Thanh Nguyen , who has since died, was 22 . And the others, who are now on Australian soil and awaiting freedom, were aged between 18 and 28 .

What mistake did we make at 18 ? And how many of us have paid a 20-year price for that?.