The first miracle was of course their transformation while in jail from drug mules to the best possible example of felons who have been rehabilitated.

The cynics among us may say that anyone facing a death sentence will change their tune, but the reality is that most do not.

It is rare indeed to find prisoners whose transformation has been so complete, so positive for other inmates around them and so sustained - Chan and Sukumaran have been living exemplary lives on death row now for more than a decade.

The looming execution of this pair has been quite extraordinary for many reasons, but the final and most enduring chapter in the saga may be written after they are executed by Indonesia.

Neither their guilt nor the seriousness of this type of crime is in dispute, but their case has given every Australian cause to stop and consider their own position on capital punishment.

The inconsistent way the new Indonesian president Joko Widodo has applied the law on the death penalty, even as his own country vigorously campaigns to save the lives of its citizens facing the same fate, has clouded the debate.

So too has the inordinately long time it has taken to reach this tragic conclusion.

But when the insidious nature of the drug trade, the role of the Australian Federal Police and our at times fractious relationship with Indonesia are stripped away we are left with one very simple question, do we believe in the death penalty?

If we do not, we should, as former attorney-general Phillip Ruddock said yesterday, campaign for its end and for the lives of death-row inmates around the world.

Tragically, this could be the legacy of Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran.