Australia says terrorist intelligence being shared

11.45am - by KEVIN NORQUAY

Australia has assured New Zealand that all security information relevant to its interests is being passed on, the Government said today.

Opposition MPs have asked whether New Zealand missed out on information warning of the Bali bombings.

Australian Prime Minister John Howard conceded his government had received a United States-based intelligence report in September of a rising terrorist threat in Indonesia.

It mentioned Bali.

New Zealand officials are now trawling through intelligence material to see whether any Bali-specific warnings had been received.

"Foreign Affairs to date has not come up with anything," a spokesman for Foreign Affairs Minister Phil Goff told NZPA.

"It would be unsurprising if they found no document that mentioned Bali as an example, it may well have been part of what is known as general intelligence chatter between countries."

Travellers should also look at advisories from other countries such as the United States, Great Britain, Canada and Australia, the spokesman said.

A US advisory issued before the weekend bombing warned citizens to avoid large gatherings and areas known to cater primarily to Westerners.

Two days before the bombing the US issued a worldwide warning to avoid "clubs, bars and restaurants" in Indonesia where Westerners met.

Those warnings could be quickly accessed through a link on the Foreign Affairs Ministry site, which advises New Zealanders to check advisory services for other nationalities.

"At the end of the day it's an advisory, some people seem to confuse it with an order," the spokesman said.

In June, former prime minister David Lange went to India, despite a ministry warning against travelling there.

As well as the ministry, intelligence services are conducting a paper chase to find out whether they could have passed on warnings about the Bali bombings.

Ministers said yesterday that no warnings had been received about the weekend attack in the Indonesian tourist resort.

NZPA understands intelligence gathering organisations such as the Security Intelligence Service and the External Relations Bureau are conducting a review of material.

Ministers maintained in Parliament yesterday they had been given no warning.

New Zealand had warned of dangers in other parts of Indonesia but a September 30 advisory said that "tourist services are operating normally" in Bali.

The United States State Department had said the US had no specific advice relevant to the Bali attack and would have passed it on had it done so.

But Mr Howard's statement that Australia was warned in some way of danger in Bali left the Government here in a difficult position.

Either they had received the same warnings as Australia and discounted them or they had received less information than Australia, indicating a further deterioration in the relationship with the US.

National leader Bill English said that New Zealanders needed to know if the Government had been warned.

"What we want to know today is whether the Government did in fact receive that warning," he told a press conference.

"Why, if it didn't receive it through Australia, why didn't we receive (it) direct from the US?

"It was clearly intelligence that was available."

Acting Prime Minister Michael Cullen told National Radio he was sure that "in many instances" New Zealand received different intelligence reports to Australia.

"What is made available to us is what is relevant to our strategic interests. What is made available to the Australians is what is relevant to their strategic interests."

But if there was a specific threat to Australian tourists, New Zealand would issue warnings to its own public, he said.

New Zealand would "watch closely" the intelligence inquiry being carried out in Australia to see if lessons could be learned.

He did not feel a similar inquiry was needed here, though that was up to the prime minister.

Even though the US had issued a stronger travel advisory, it still had not advised its citizens not to travel to Bali, Dr Cullen said.

- NZPA

Bali messages and latest information on New Zealanders
New Zealand travellers in Bali, and their families around the world, can exchange news via our Bali Messages page. The page also contains lists of New Zealanders in Bali and their condition.

Foreign Affairs advice to New Zealanders

* Travellers should defer travel to Bali

* NZers in Bali should keep a low profile and remain calm

* Foreign Affairs Hotline: 0800 432 111

Feature: Bali bomb blast

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