Our travel warning system is the boy who cried wolf

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by Ellen Whinnett

15 Mar 05:55am

Filed under: Indonesia, Security, Terrorism, Travel

14 comments

AUSTRALIA needs to overhaul its travel warning system or end up looking like the boy who cried wolf.

Bali - proving hard to resist.

We found out last week that 567,000 Australians visited our neighbour Indonesia last year.

This means more than half a million Australians either didn’t know about - or, more likely, happily ignored - the Australian Government’s travel warnings when they flew off to Bali for a week of sun, surf, beer, braiding, tattoos and tummy upsets.

Opposition leader Tony Abbott cheerfully told Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono this week that he ignored the warnings when he went on holidays.

“Indeed, Mr President, I was one of those contrary and recalcitrant citizens disregarding my own government’s travel advice when I went to Bali as a tourist in 2005 and again in 2006,’’ he said.

So, we all ignore travel warnings.

Even Abbott, who was actually in Bali in 2005 when terrorists struck, who raced off to the hospital to see what help he could offer.

I was sent to cover those attacks and remember talking to a red-eyed, unshaven Abbott outside the Sanglah Hospital in Denpasar. He was clearly affected by what the families and survivors were going through.

But even that didn’t put him off - he returned again the following year.

So what chance does the Government actually have of keeping ordinary Australians, who haven’t been confronted directly as Abbott was, away from countries that the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade has deemed to be dangerous?

Perhaps part of the problem is that Indonesia has been placed by Australia in the “reconsider your need to travel’’ category - the second most serious travel warning available.

This makes it less safe than Afghanistan, Iraq, and a couple of African countries which make up the nine countries in the “do not travel’’ category. No problem there.

But it puts a holiday to Kuta Beach in the same danger category as a trip to earthquake-ravaged Haiti, dysfunctional Zimbabwe, or current terrorism bad-boys Yemen.

Even a trip to Israel, the Gaza Strip and the West Bank would be a safer option than a trip to Indonesia, according to the Federal Government.

There are five categories of travel warnings listed by the Australian Government - you can find them here at www.smarttraveller.gov.au.

The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade lists the warnings based on advice from security and intelligence officials.

One person who has read them is Indonesia’s PM, who chided the Australian Government over them last week.

“With regard to our tourism relations, we only know that Indonesia is now one of the top 10 tourist destinations for Australia in spite of your government’s advice against travelling to Indonesia,’’ Dr Yudhoyono said.

Let’s be fair. There have been a number of attacks by Islamic extremists who deliberately targeted Westerners in Indonesia, both in the capital Jakarta and on the holiday island of Bali.

The most devastating was the bombings in Bali in 2002 which killed 202 people, including 88 Australians.

Australian officials say they have credible information that terrorists continue to threaten harm against western interests in Bali and on that basis, they urge people to reconsider their plans to travel there.

Despite this, hundreds of thousands of Australians continue to visit, to take their children and their loved ones there, despite the risk.

It’s a delicate balance.

On the one hand, Australia would be failing in its duty to its people if it didn’t warn them about specific dangers that it had knowledge of.

But on the other, there’s no point having so many warnings against so many countries that people fail to take them seriously.

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14 comments

Show oldest | newest first

- J says:
  
  08:20am | 15/03/10
  
  I ignored the govt’s travel warning too. I felt less self-conscious in Bali than I did in Vietnam (not the Vietnam is unsafe, but my pale skin and blue eyes attracted a LOT of attention!)
  
  Our hotel had excellent security (every car was searched coming back into the hotel), there were police everywhere when we went out for the night in Kuta, and the people were warm and friendly - maybe a little pushy, but otherwise it was a great week.
  
  Everyone’s going to go sometime. Hopefully it’s warm and safe in my bed, peacefully in my sleep. But you can’t sit at home in fear. Terrorisms’ biggest weapon is fear. If you imprison yourself in your home because you believe the world is too dangerous - mission accomplished.
  
  Didn’t the authorities foil some terror plot in Holsworthy last year? I might have that wrong, but I do know it was in Australia. Terrorism is everywhere. Respect the local customs, don’t travel anywhere alone, don’t get so inebriated that you lose control, and always trust your gut instinct. Simple.
  
  Bring on Egypt in October - I can’t wait!!
  
  Reply
- Mike says:
  
  08:21am | 15/03/10
  
  Think about it. Large numbers of Australians have lost their lives in two terror attacks in Bali in the past decade; Australians have been killed in attacks on Jakarta hotels. This might have been unthinkable in the previous decade, but the fact is that terrorism has made Indonesia a much more dangerous place. The Government travel warnings simply reflect that unfortunate reality.
  
  Reply
- formersnag says:
  
  08:24am | 15/03/10
  
  its possible that the Indonesian safety issue has been over stated, but its safer to have the warnings available & people can ignore or notice them as much as we like. maybe the overstated warnings, have more to do with pressuring a neighbour, to do more about people smuggling?
  
  Reply
- Steve of Cornubia says:
  
  10:37am | 15/03/10
  
  It’s a shame that our travel advisories don’t include domestic locations. I would expect some parts of Sydney and Melbourne to receive a ‘Do Not Travel’ warning.
  
  Reply
nate says:

11:54am | 15/03/10

lol, so true.
- monkeytypist says:
  
  10:40am | 15/03/10
  
  SBY is Indonesia’s President, not its Prime Minister.
  
  Reply
- B Yap says:
  
  10:42am | 15/03/10
  
  Yudhoyono is Indonesia’s President not PM. Indonesia does not have a PM.
  
  Reply
- Andrew Goff says:
  
  12:39pm | 15/03/10
  
  Governing by fear. As terrible as the Bali Bombing were, that makes 88 people out of about 5 million Aussies who travelled to Indonesia in the last decade. Or, in other words, you are a 0.0018% chance of being killed by terrorists in Indonesia.
  
  The government must be seen to be doing something about it… but in reality, terrorism only wins if the people are terrified - and I think it is a great tribute to the Australian people that we are not!
  
  Reply
- Jeff M says:
  
  02:04pm | 15/03/10
  
  You forget that the livelihood of any number of Government employees depends on the close monitoring of and then alarmist reaction to any percieved threat, this number of people is dwarfed by the burgeoning airport security scam being perpetuauted by our government and however many private security firms employed to confiscate shampoo bottles and rather bizarrely test for bomb residue on random unfortunate passengers.
  When will we understand all this is completely unnecessary!
  
  Reply
J says:

03:32pm | 15/03/10

I always cop the explosives test.
- DougB says:
  
  02:20pm | 15/03/10
  
  The real fear here is from those in DFAT, who worry that if someone travels overseas and gets injured or killed, then DFAT might be held partially to blame for not having a warning.
  
  Far easier to place warnings on every thing, then to risk being called to account for getting one wrong. It also means you don’t have to think about it as hard, and can get to your 1.5hr lunch or Friday afternoon drinks.
  
  Reply
- Martin says:
  
  03:47pm | 15/03/10
  
  DFAT is in a bit of a no-win situation with travel warnings because if they issue warning about places where there may be a (slight) risk of danger, they are accused of crying wolf, but if they don’t issue a warning and something happens, they care blamed for not taking steps to protect Australians. Frankly, I get heartily sick of hearing about Australians gallivanting off around the world assuming that nothing will go wrong, and then when they get into strife in some Third World hell hole, they expect the Australian taxpayer to pay for their rescue. Personally, I have no sympathy for people who knowingly go off to hazardous places and get into strife, and I really don’t see why the rest of us should pay for their folly. If members of the public choose to ignore the government’s warnings let it be on their own heads. I believe that if people choose to go to particular places in defiance of the warnings, they should forfeit their right to expect the Australian government to rescue them. In other words, personal responsibility should be the rule of the day.
  
  Reply
TC says:

05:56pm | 15/03/10

Yet youre willing for the taxpayer to foot the bill for a population of people doing untold damage to their health (despite clear warnings) through sheer inactivity?
- Rebecca says:
  
  10:35pm | 15/03/10
  
  How about being a member of our Defence Forces, or being part of a Defence Family? As soon as any place is listed as ‘Reconsider’, Defence personnel are not allowed to travel there on any leave break - unless its done without approval (which has nasty consequences if caught).
  It is great to have the warning - better to identify what the risk is, rather than blanketing everything - and still have the opportunity to accept the risk to you or your family. The advisories are just that - advice!
  
  Reply

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