The Australian travel warning for parts of Indonesia is being downgraded for the first time since the Bali bombings.
A Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade warning will remove the advice to “reconsider the need to travel” and will now emphasise the need to “exercise a high degree of caution” for Indonesian destinations including Bali.
Indonesia’s foreign minister has welcomed changes to the government’s travel warning, with foreign minister Marty Natalegawa saying the downgrade is the result of sustained counter-terrorism work by Indonesian police.
“Today’s decision…. reflects the kind of better conditions that we have been promoting," he said.
Greg Barton, a member of the global terrorism research centre at Monash University, told the ABC is was a wise move by the government, which would "have people paying attention so if it goes up or down it means something rather than just sort of being stuck and not changing this last 10 years".
