Melbourne’s Meth Queen

Melbourne’s Meth Queen

From The Trial: Australia by The Crime Desk

April 23, 2026 · 23 min · Season 2 · Episode 28

About this episode

The episode explores the story of Tess Rowlatt, known as Melbourne's Meth Queen, and her journey through drug trafficking and legal troubles.

Tess Rowlatt was once known as a successful marketing guru, but she’s now been dubbed as Melbourne’s Meth Queen. She pleaded guilty to trafficking meth and dealing with the proceeds of crime, her second drug related conviction, after a dramatic police chase led to the discovery of drugs, cash, and bank cards in other peoples’ names. She is due to be sentenced- however there is still a chance that she could walk free. This week Wayne is joined by reporter Paul Shapiro, who has been following Tess Rowlatt as she progresses through her court hearings. In this episode Wayne also speaks with Lucy Manly, who grew up around Rowlatt and has written features on the experience. Together, they try to answer the question; how did a young professional spiral to this point? The Trial Australia is part of The Crime Desk. Subscribe today for ad-free listening, early access to new shows, exclusive bonus episodes and complete access to our true-crime podcast collection. Visit thecrimedesk.com for more information. Follow us on Tiktok @DailyMailCrime Follow us on instagram @TheTrialPod Subscribe to our YouTube channel @TheCrimeDesk Click here to sign up to The Crime Desk's weekly newsletter. It's…

People in this episode

Host: Wayne Flower

Guests: Paul Shapiro, Lucy Manly

Topics covered

  • drug trafficking
  • court hearings
  • personal downfall
  • true crime
  • Melbourne
  • methamphetamine

Keywords

  • Tess Rowlatt
  • Melbourne
  • meth
  • drug trafficking
  • court hearings
  • Wayne Flower
  • Paul Shapiro
  • Lucy Manly

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: The Crime Desk

More episodes of The Trial: Australia

Explore listener stats, chart rankings, contacts and more on the The Trial: Australia podcast page.