The Government condemns the terrorist attack at the National Bardo Museum in Tunis, Tunisia.
At least 19 people, including 17 foreign tourists, were killed and many more wounded.
Our consular officials have now confirmed that a dual Australian-Colombian citizen, who was a resident of New South Wales, was among the deceased.
Our thoughts and prayers are with the man’s family, to whom we will extend all consular assistance.
This was clearly a terrorist attack on a fledgling democracy.
Tunisia held presidential and parliamentary elections late last year and has shown remarkable strength and resilience in resisting the rising tide of terrorism sweeping the Middle East inspired by ISIL, or Daesh.
This incident underlines the terrorist threat to Australians at home and abroad. Australians have an unrivalled love of travel and adventure. At any one time, a million Australians are living overseas.
The Government is doing everything we humanly can to protect Australians at home and abroad. We have invested $630 million in new counter-terrorism measures, and we are systematically updating counter-terrorism legislation to give our agencies the powers they need to tackle the growing threat of terrorism.
The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade’s travel advice for Australians planning to go to Tunisia (www.smarttraveller.gov.au) is to exercise a high degree of caution because of the unpredictable security situation.
19 March 2015