Media Release

FA68 - 17 June 2003

Bali Terrorist Attack

The Office of National Assessments submission to the Senate Inquiry into Security Threats to Australians in South-East Asia confirms that there was no intelligence warning of a possible terrorist attack in Bali.

This is entirely consistent with the Blick report which concluded that the Government had no prior intelligence about the Bali bombings.

During an ONA briefing on regional terrorism that took place on 18 and 19 June 2002, one ONA analyst, in response to my question, suggested that Bali, Riau and Singapore could be attractive targets.

This observation was based on speculation about what Jemaah Islamiyah had the potential to do.  I then asked whether the ONA analyst’s observation warranted a change in the Department’s already strong travel advice for Indonesia.  ONA’s clear response was that there was no specific intelligence.

In the time between this briefing and the Bali bombing, ONA produced 20 written reports on terrorism in South East Asia.  Not one of them addressed the possibility of an attack in Bali.

Security warnings in the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade’s travel advisories are based on careful assessments of available intelligence

Tragically there was no such intelligence available to the Government that warned of the Bali attack.

At the time of the Bali bombing our travel advisory for Indonesia was consistent with other Western countries such as the US and the UK. It warned Australians travelling to Indonesia to maintain a high level of security awareness because of the potential for terrorist bombings, including in areas frequented by tourists.

It hardly needs saying that clearly, if I, my department or the Government generally, had any forewarning of the Bali attack, we would have done everything in our power to alert Australians and others to the danger.

Media inquiries: Chris Kenny (Ministerial) +61 02 6277 7500