In November, Australia was named on a list of countries under consideration to have visa fees scrapped in order to boost tourism, but Indonesian Tourist Minister Arief Yahya announced yesterday that Aussie tourists had been excluded from the final list.
Arief said travellers from 45 European and Asian nations would have their visas waived from next month and Indonesia would ask the countries to reciprocate, Reuters reports.
He stressed, however, that the same gesture would not be extended to Australia.
“If we give visa-free travel to Australia, we have to be given the same thing,†Arief told reporters.
Arief denied that the policy was in response to the diplomatic unrest over Australian drug smugglers Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran, who are scheduled to be executed by firing squad.
However, an unnamed senior ministry official has told The Jakarta Post 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 favourite 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.
Arief maintains that Australia was excluded because it does not extend visa-free arrangements to Indonesians.
“I can guarantee that if the Australian government wants (to agree to visa-free travel), that the Foreign Minister and President will almost definitely want it too,†he said.
However, speaking about the proposal in November, Arief said the proposal to lift the $41 visa-on-arrival fee would be targeted at Indonesia’s “main foreign tourist targetsâ€.
Australia is the third-largest contributor to Indonesian tourism behind Singapore and Malaysia, according to the country’s statistics bureau. Aussie tourists made up 12 per cent of the foreigners who visited Indonesia last year.
Meanwhile, Foreign Minister Julie Bishop has rejected criticism of the way Australia has lobbied to stop the executions of Chan and Sukumaran.
Indonesian President Joko Widodo’s closest aide said Jakarta’s objection was not to Canberra’s lobbying, but the manner and tone of it, including warnings and thinly-veiled threats.
But Ms Bishop denied any impropriety.
“We will continue to make our plea (for clemency) in the most respectful way possible, but we’re talking about the lives of two Australians,â€
