‘There was no plan’: How the Bali attack upended us
Ric Smith, Andrew Colvin and Ian Kemish were on the front line of the terror attack. Major changes in the way we approach overseas operations would follow.
Former Australian ambassador to Indonesia, Ric Smith, at the Bali memorial in Parliament House, Canberra on Thursday. Alex Ellinghausen
Singapore | About a week after terrorist bombs killed 202 people in Bali two decades ago, Australia’s then ambassador to Indonesia, Ric Smith, stood and stared down a bulldozer on what remained of the Sari Club in Kuta.
“The site owners wanted to clear it, they said life couldn’t resume because the spirits of those killed were restless. We got word there was a bulldozer on site, ready to go,” Smith recalls ahead of events next week that will honour the victims of the blast, including 88 Australians.
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