Australia stands firm with travel advisory

Australia stands firm with travel advisory

Reuters, Canberra

Australia refused on Tuesday to ease a travel warning for Indonesia despite lobbying by Jakarta, which says security has been improved on the island resort of Bali after deadly bombings in October 2002.

Indonesian Culture and Tourism Minister I Gede Ardika met Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer in Canberra on Tuesday, four months after the bombings that killed at least 194 people.

"(We do not) adjust travel advisories on the basis of lobbying efforts, that's not the way they operate," a spokesman for Downer said after the meeting.

"I'm afraid the primary consideration always is the safety of Australians."

Australia has advised its citizens to defer non-essential travel to Indonesia, including Bali, in the wake of the Oct. 12 bombings. It says threats against Australians "remain high".

Before the blasts, Bali was one of Australia's top tourist destinations, viewed as a safe, tropical resort on the nation's doorstep. About half of the blast victims were Australian.

Australia is a key ally of the United States, whose policies in the Middle East and Afghanistan have angered some Muslims. Indonesia is the world's most populous Muslim nation.

Ardika said he urged Downer to ease the travel warning because tourism was vital to Bali's economy.

"We have explained the steps that have been taken and implemented in Bali particularly and Indonesia in general -- like the improvement in the number of police and their equipment in Bali," Ardika told reporters following the meeting.

"Tourism for Indonesia is the number one currency exchange earner after oil and gas, and in Bali tourism is playing a significant role -- more than 80 percent of people in Bali (are) linked to the tourism activities," he said.

Religious militants have been blamed for the attack on Bali's famed nightclub strip and several suspects have been caught and are awaiting trail in Indonesia on related charges.