SYDNEY: Prime Minister Tony Abbott urged Indonesia Wednesday to remember Canberra's significant help in dealing with the devastating 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami as he ramped up pressure to spare two Australians on death row.
Indonesian authorities have confirmed that Andrew Chan, 31, and Myuran Sukumaran, 33, ringleaders of the so-called Bali Nine heroin trafficking group, will be among the next set of prisoners to face the firing squad.
But they have been tight-lipped about when the executions will take place and which other foreign convicts will join them.
Abbott said he continued to make "the strongest possible personal representations" to Indonesian President Joko Widodo and warned he would feel "grievously let down" if his pleas for clemency were ignored.
"Australia sent a billion dollars worth of assistance," he said, referring to the aftermath of the tsunami that left 220,000 people dead across 14 countries, almost 170,000 from Indonesia.
"We sent a significant contingent of our armed forces to help in Indonesia with humanitarian relief....
"I would say to the Indonesian people and the Indonesian government -- we in Australia are always there to help you and we hope that you might reciprocate in this way at this time."
On Tuesday, Chan and Sukumaran were given a glimmer of hope when their transfer to the prison where they are due to be shot was postponed with the Indonesian attorney-general's office saying it would not go ahead this week.
The delay was in response to Canberra urging more time for the families to be with their loved ones, and logistical difficulties involving capacity at the Nusakambangan island jail.
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