The plan to waive the visa requirement
for visitors from Australia, previously aimed at attracting more foreign
tourists, has been dropped amid concerns surrounding repeated turbulence over
Jakarta-Canberra diplomatic ties.
The government had only proceeded with the visa-free
policies for Chinese, Russian, South Korean and Japanese tourists.
Australia, which contributes about 10 percent of
foreign tourist arrivals in Indonesia, has had many ups and downs in its
relationship with Indonesia. A high-ranking ministry official said that
political reasons were behind the decision to exclude Australia from the new visa
policy. “Giving free visas to Australians may bring more detriment than
benefit. Besides, Bali would still be their favorite destination anyway. I
don’t think a visa on arrival fee of around US$35 would be a burden for any
Australian tourist,” the official said.
The latest episode of the Jakarta-Canberra diplomatic
saga occurred earlier this month following President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo’s
decision to execute all drug inmates on death row, including two Australians.
Two months earlier, Foreign Minister Retno LP Marsudi slammed Australia’s
unilateral decision to reject any refugees who registered with the UN High
Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Indonesia after July 1, 2014.
But the lowest point in the two countries’ diplomatic
ties in the past 15 years occurred in 2013 when attempts by Australian
intelligence to spy on Indonesia by tapping the phones of then president Susilo
Bambang Yudhoyono, his wife and his inner circle in 2009 were revealed.
Angered, Yudhoyono decided to freeze cooperation between the two countries on
defense and intelligence sharing until a code of conduct on spying could be
enacted in August last year, two months before he handed over the presidency to
Jokowi.
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