An “immature” and eager-to-please New Zealand woman became a drug courier in Australia as she sought approval from her friends after a relationship break-up.

She is now facing deportation to New Zealand from Western Australia after she is released from a lengthy jail sentence.

Melissa Lee Rodgers left home and moved to Australia in 2013 when she was 18.

Now aged 30, she is currently in prison after being picked up on a drug run from a bush location outside Perth to the Western Australian capital in 2021.

The following year, Rodgers was convicted of attempting to possess drugs with intent to sell or supply and was sent to prison for eight years.

The conviction led to the cancellation of her visa, leaving her liable to be sent back to New Zealand as a “501″ deportee.

The term “501″ comes from the section number of the Australian Immigration Act that allows non-citizens to be deported on the grounds of poor character.

No criminal history, apart from driving offences

According to papers before the Australian Administrative Appeals Authority, Rodgers is not a drug addict, although she has admitted to using drugs recreationally in social settings.

Her only criminal history before she was picked up in the joint Western Australian and Australian Federal Police drugs operation four years ago was 14 driving offences.

She has worked in retail, in the beauty industry and at the time of her arrest in an administration role for an accountancy firm.

But she suffered the failure of two romantic relationships by the age of 26, including the second one that “ended poorly”, according to the authority, which recently reviewed her case.

This took a “huge toll on her mental health” and affected her decision-making at a time when she started to associate with the “wrong people”.

Melissa Lee Rodgers has a support network and a job waiting for her on release in Perth. However, she is now liable to be deported. Photo / 123rf

In April 2021, police found a backpack containing 2.951kg of methamphetamine hidden at a remote location in bushland outside Perth.

They substituted a decoy substance for the drugs and waited to see who would collect it.

That evening, Rodgers drove into the bush, picked up the backpack and made the first of two or three intended deliveries to a house in a Perth suburb.

She was pulled over by police as she was driving to the next drop-off, and an examination of her phone showed she had been receiving instructions about the intended drug run via text message.

These showed Rodgers had been upset to find herself handling 3kg of what she thought were the drugs, when she had expected to be running only 2kg.

Her sentencing judge said later that even 2kg would have been enough to supply 20,000 doses of a dangerous drug at street level.

Rodgers expected to be paid $500 to $1000 for each drop on her drug run.

Rodgers’ sentence was handed down in the Perth District Court in April 2022. She is not eligible for parole until April 2027, at the earliest.

Wanted to please others

A psychologist’s report prepared for the sentencing said Rodgers had a tendency to please others and to seek their approval.

The sentencing judge described her as “someone who is immature and finds it difficult to say no”.

The report said she was vulnerable after her relationship break-up.

“She was reported to be somewhat dependent in relationships, which probably limited her emotional maturation,” the psychologist said.

“It was after this that she began to mix with adverse peers and she is likely to have been influenced by them and sought their approval.”

Rodgers went to the appeals tribunal seeking to have the revocation of her visa overturned so she could stay in Australia, where she has supportive friends and a job offer for when she is released.

In his decision, tribunal senior member Aaron Suthers said that during her time in prison, Rodgers had completed rehabilitation courses and qualifications in catering, cleaning operations and workplace health and safety.

Student of the year

She was awarded the 2023 vocational student of the year at the Eastern Goldfields Regional Prison and worked seven days a week in the prison kitchen.

“The applicant says that she is now a different person to the one who offended and that she was young and naive at the time of her offending and was easily manipulated,” Suthers said.

“She says that she has removed any negative influences from her life and intends to maintain that position. She says that she knows that she will not reoffend or commit any other offences in Australia.”

Despite this, Suthers said the protection of the Australian community, and their expectations about non-citizens who break the law, outweighed factors in Rodgers’ favour.

He declined to revoke the cancellation of the visa.

Rodgers has a father, mother and stepfather, and two siblings in New Zealand. Their locations were not disclosed.

Ric Stevens spent many years working for the former New Zealand Press Association news agency, including as a political reporter at Parliament, before holding senior positions at various daily newspapers. He joined NZME’s Open Justice team in 2022 and is based in Hawke’s Bay. His writing in the crime and justice sphere is informed by four years of frontline experience as a probation officer.