Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard is scheduled to
attend the 10th anniversary service commemorating the 2002 Terrorist Attack at the Garuda Wisnu Kencana cultural park in Bali on
October 12, 2012.
We welcome and thank Australia and their P.M. who will
arrive later today to attend the 10th anniversary of the Bali Bombing.
Be ready for a
traffic nightmare near Bali Airport and
along the route to wherever the P.M. of Australia is staying as security will
be on high alert and many places along the By-Pass will be closed to turn
around.
We wish her and her entourage a great stay on the Island of
the Gods.
Julia Gillard is due to fly to Bali later today to attend
tomorrow's 10th anniversary service commemorating the 202 people, including 88
Australians, killed in a terrorist bomb blast.
Security will be extreme as the Prime Minister and other
VIPs fly in, with the resort's terror alert level raised to its highest level
in the wake of a new terrorist threat.
Source : http://www.skynews.com.au/topstories/article.aspx?id=804460
JULIA Gillard arrived late last night under tight security
for the Bali bombings' 10th anniversary commemoration, after calling on
Australians to make time today to reflect on the tragedy.
"We will honor those who were lost, embrace those who
survived, and comfort those who grieve," the Prime Minister told
parliament before leaving for the commemoration. "We would give everything
to erase the events of that night from the page of history, but we cannot.
About 1220 police, reinforced by officers from the crack
Densus 88 counter-terrorism unit, and 1000 troops have secured Jimbaran, VIP
hotels and other sites Ms Gillard will attend during her two-day visit.
Ms Gillard and Mr Howard will speak at this morning's
commemoration, where about 1500 survivors, families and well-wishers will pray
for the 202 people who lost their lives.
They included 88 Australians, 38 Indonesians, 24 Britons and
holidaymakers from 20 other countries. More than 240 people were seriously
hurt.
Bali Governor I Made Mangku Pastika, who as a police chief
led the successful Indonesia-Australian investigation of the bombings and
captured the main perpetrators, will attend.
The ceremony, which starts at 8am local time (11am AEST),
will be broadcast live in Australia by the ABC and other networks.
Ms Gillard and Mr Howard will speak at this morning's
commemoration, where about 1500 survivors, families and well-wishers will pray
for the 202 people who lost their lives.
They included 88 Australians, 38 Indonesians, 24 Britons and
holidaymakers from 20 other countries. More than 240 people were seriously
hurt.
Mr Brett Farmer, Australian Consul-General in Bali
Mr Howard arrived on a separate VIP flight last night with Tony Abbott and their wives, Janette Howard and Margie Abbott.
Mr Abbott said he looked forward to standing beside the Prime Minister today "to say to our country's enemies: you can hurt us but you can't break us".
Bali Governor I Made Mangku Pastika, who as a police chief
led the successful Indonesia-Australian investigation of the bombings and
captured the main perpetrators, will attend.
The ceremony, which starts at 8am local time (11am AEST),
will be broadcast live in Australia by the ABC and other networks.
ADDITIONAL REPORTING: AAP
THU 11 OCTOBER 2012
Prime Minister
Canberra
Prime Minister Julia Gillard will travel to Laos and Indonesia from 4 to 9 November to attend the 9th Asia-Europe Meeting in Vientiane and the 5th Bali Democracy Forum in Bali.
Australia was invited to attend the Asia-Europe Meeting for the first time in 2010.
The Prime Minister’s visit to Vientiane for her second ASEM summit underscores the importance we attach to high‑level engagement with Asian and European partners.
It is an opportunity for leaders to discuss strategic and economic issues, including cooperation and coordination to strengthen global financial architecture. The Prime Minister will also meet with business leaders at the summit to discuss their priorities and objectives in the region.
The Prime Minister is also pleased to accept a personal invitation from President Yudhoyono to co-chair the Bali Democracy Forum on 8 November.
Australia has welcomed and supported Indonesia’s evolution into a strong and vibrant democracy, and greatly values the constructive leadership role that our close neighbourplays in the region and beyond.
The Forum, which Australia has supported since its inception in 2008, is a key inter-governmental meeting for advancing democratic reform.
While in Vientiane and Bali, the Prime Minister will hold a series of meetings with international leaders.
Ms Gillard says she's undeterred about attending the
service.
Opposition Leader Tony Abbott, former prime minister John
Howard, survivors and families of people killed in the 2002 Bali bombings will
also attend the service, at the Garuda Wisnu Kencana Cultural Park in Jimbaran.
Many of the survivors and those who lost loved ones are also returning to Bali today to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the terrorist attack which killed 202 people, including 88 Australians
He says returning to Australia without his mates was very
hard.
"Coming back for me was quite possibly the toughest time,"
he said.
"That was when the guilt hit me, I thought 'I've let
down so many people'."
Ross McKeon lost his wife Lynette and daughter Marissa.
The McKeon family and their friends were staying an extra
night in Bali because their plane was cancelled.
"Had the flight been that night we probably wouldn't
have even been there, we were probably only there 20 minutes when everything
happened," he said.
"It was life and death as soon as the explosion went.
"It was only, probably 60 to 90 seconds ... from the
explosion to the time where we were, that the roof actually burnt through and
we were engulfed in flames."
With the help of a friend, Mr McKeon made it out of the
club, but he suffered burns to his legs, hands and neck.
"When I was laying out the front I really didn't think
anyone could survive it, I didn't know how I'd survived it," he said.
His daughter Kristie who was 12 at the time was helped over
a back wall.
Mr McKeon flies out for Bali today with Kristie to attend
the anniversary.
He says it has been a big decision to return to Bali to
attend the commemoration.
"We're going to go to Bali and back to the point where
it all happened and it'll be a very sombre day that's for sure," he said.
"It will be a commemoration of the day that changed our
lives forever."
