Home and Away will introduce new character Eliza next week, as Roo Stewart gets a call from the foster agency offering her a child to look after.
Early in 2024, Roo Stewart (Georgie Parker) decided to apply to be an emergency foster carer, after being moved by Tane’s (Ethan Browne) efforts to protect a baby he’d found abandoned on Summer Bay’s beach.
When Roo first visited Tane and baby ‘Maia’, as he had named her at the time, in the hospital to drop off some donations left at the surf club, Tane slated the baby’s mother for leaving her on the beach.
Roo pointed out that the mother could have been struggling, and that the baby had clearly been cared for, but Tane wasn’t willing to compromise on his viewpoint. If you’re a mum, then you figure that out or seek help.
Tane’s stance touched a nerve with Roo, who knew all too well how it feels to be completely overwhelmed with a newborn.
Roo gave birth to daughter Martha back in 1988 when she was only 17. Although she didn’t go as far as abandoning her child, she faced the horror of Martha’s father Brett Macklin (Gerry Sont) briefly taking off with her, and later made the difficult decision to give Martha up for adoption after they both agreed they were unable to provide a stable enough environment.
Tane soon announced plans to become an emergency foster carer in order to look after Maia himself, but his plans were quickly thwarted when he realised he’d need to be a permanent resident of Australia.
As Roo pondered that there must be someone in the local area who could take care of Maia, Tane asked if she would consider it herself.
Roo was initially thrown by the suggestion, and admitted to Alf (Ray Meagher) that she wasn’t sure she’d be able to be an emergency foster parent – how would she be able to look after that little girl and avoid falling in love with her?
After much careful thought and research, Roo announced that she was going to go ahead and apply, the plan being that Tane could later apply himself after becoming a resident.
That wasn’t to be, as the baby’s biological mother Sonia (Olivia Beardsley) turned up shortly after, and Roo ended up being a support to her.
Roo then made an uncharacteristic disappearance from the bay, with Marilyn (Emily Symons) commenting to Alf that she hadn’t seemed herself since seeing Sonia and Poppy, as the baby was revealed to be named.
Shortly after, Roo made a safe return to Summer Bay, and explained that she’d spent the past few weeks attending informational sessions in the city to find out more about being a foster carer.
She announced that she wished to continue her plans to become an emergency carer, feeling inspired after successfully reuniting Sonia and Poppy.
Telling Alf that she may be called upon to look after children for anywhere between a day and a number of months, she asked if he would be happy for her to bring the children to their home at Summer Bay House.
While a surprised Alf quipped that he thought his child-rearing days were well behind him, Roo assured him that she would be the primary caregiver, and Alf gave her his blessing.
The story was put on hold when Roo left Summer Bay for a number of months to reunite with nephew Ryder (Lukas Radovich), but with Roo back in town, we’re about to pick the story back up.
A new promo which aired after Thursday’s Australian episode of Home and Away teased the arrival of a troubled child named Eliza (Martha Kate Morgan), who will move into Summer Bay house next week, and will quickly begin to run rings around Roo.
“I got a call from the foster agency,” Roo tells her dad at the Surf Club. “They’ve got a child that needs an emergency placement.”
“What did you say?” Alf asks.
“I said yes,” Roo responds, clearly nervous that her dream is about to become a reality.
We then see Roo welcoming the new arrival into Summer Bay House, as Alf greets Eliza with a “G’day love.”
Roo explains that Eliza’s last foster home was destroyed in a fire – and, unbeknown to her new foster parent, it soon becomes clear to viewers that Eliza may have had something to do with it.
“It was intense,” Eliza tells Roo as she sits in her new bedroom and discusses the events which saw her last home go up in flames.