The Sydney Morning Herald, August 13, 2004
Bali travel advice flawed: inquiry
By Tom Allard and Cynthia Banham
Travel advisories provided by the Federal Government before the Bali bombings were
inadequate and should have been clearer about the risks on the island widely seen as
a "safe haven", a Senate inquiry has found.
The inquiry into the events leading up to the blasts in October 2002 that killed 202
people, including 88 Australians, found the main flaw was stating that Bali was "calm"
and tourist services were operating "normally".
These assurances, the Senate committee's majority report said, were made in direct
response to frequent inquiries from travellers and reinforced the benign impression of
security in Bali held by many Australians.
"The advice sent the wrong message," said the Senate committee's chairman, Steve
Hutchins, especially as the Bali references followed warnings about other areas in
Indonesia that were deemed dangerous.
The inquiry also found fault with the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade travel
warning because it did not say, as intelligence available at the time had warned, that
Australians were being specifically targeted.
It queried why the intelligence services did not assess Bali as more vulnerable to
attack than other parts of Indonesia, given that about 200,000 Australian visited each
year and terrorists had already indicated that bars, restaurants and other tourist
hotspots were likely targets.
The Opposition-dominated inquiry concluded there was no specific intelligence
warning of an attack "that would have provided an opportunity to prevent the Bali
bombing".
A spokesman for the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Alexander Downer, said: "This report
finally puts to rest outrageous claims that the Government had prior warning of the
Bali attack."
The inquiry called for another investigation into the matter, noting it did not have full
access to the relevant intelligence.
The Greens and Democrats went further, saying a royal commission was required.
But Government senators on the foreign affairs, defence and trade committee rejected
the recommendation and said there was no evidence the travel advisories were
inadequate.
They pointed out that the travel warning before the Bali bombings did note that there
was a risk of terrorist bombings in Indonesia, including in tourist areas.
The reference to Bali in the first paragraph of the advisory as "calm, with normal
tourist services" was "objectively true", their dissenting report said.
However, Government members agreed with the Labor senators' other
recommendations, including that it should be mandatory for travel agents to give
clients copies of the latest advisories and that there should be an independent
assessor of advisories.
Support was also unanimous for the establishment of a national compensation fund
for terrorism victims.
The former South Australian magistrate, Brian Deegan, who lost his son Josh in Bali,
said he was vindicated by the report. He has long called for a further inquiry and a
compensation fund.
Copyright © 2004. The Sydney Morning Herald.
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