Government to crack down on bizarre consular requests

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jsoprano

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From yesterday's The Age:

Consular officials in Bangkok are used to helping Australians in compromising situations, but even they were shocked when a man asked taxpayers to foot the bill for a prostitute.The request is just one example of bizarre requests the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and Abbott government are cracking down on.
Foreign Minister Julie Bishop on Wednesday launched a new strategy for consular officials to deal with the problem, warning Australian travellers to stop expecting the government to bail them out if they get in trouble.

Full article can be found here: Abbott government cracks down on bizarre requests for help from Australian travellers

Especially request no. 15 is interesting from an AFF perspective:

15) Some travellers evacuated from civil unrest in Egypt on government funded flights questioned why they were not entitled to frequent flyer points. Similarly, some travellers evacuated from the 2004 Boxing Day tsunami made seat requests, including for first class
 
yeah - I saw that reported on the news last night.

But I think we were all left scratching our heads wondering what exactly the 'crackdown' was supposed to be?

Based on the examples listed, surely for the majority you just say 'no' and that's the end of it? There doesn't need to be a crackdown unless they were already conceding to such requests. Which would clearly be ridiculous.
 
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My understanding was that it wasn't so much a change in responding to the flaky requests, as in the second quote in the OP, but saying that, for those who fall foul of laws in other countries, the previous 'automatic' consular assistance while you are in the foreign clink may not be forthcoming if you went out of your way to provoke the authorities. Such as in a gratuitous protest where the whole point is to be arrested and hence make a scene and hence make the news. In my view this lot can fend for themselves entirely.
 
initial softening up for the fee for an assistance to be applied to anyone inquiring overseas, a consular co-payment as such
 
So ..... reading between the lines .... Julie Bishop thinks Aussie tourists are too stupid to deserve consular assistance. Hard to fault that logic given recent examples from our glorious leaders.
 
The only time I've ever gone near/contacted an Australia Embassy/High Commission/Consulate was to vote in the 2010 election.
Contacting them for anything would be the last thing to even occur to me.
 
A consular assistance fee can't come soon enough. Make the bogans pay.
 
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