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.