Deal with your own problems, embassies say

Requests include asking embassy staff to pay for jet ski repairs. Picture: Getty

NO, YOU can’t get a loan to pay for a prostitute in Thailand. And seeking assistance to evict a polecat from a house in the United States is going to be futile.

Australia is taking steps to curb such absurd requests that its travelling citizens have lodged with Australian embassies and consulates around the world.

Foreign minister Julie Bishop announced the new measures yesterday to highlight consular services as a last resort and to promote “a stronger culture of self-reliance and personal responsibility in the travelling public”.

These measures include a new policy of providing minimal consular services to Australians who wilfully, repeatedly or negligently get themselves into trouble. Charging for the consular help is also something the government is considering, she said.

CONNECT WITH THE SCOTSMAN

• Subscribe to our daily newsletter (requires registration) and get the latest news, sport and business headlines delivered to your inbox every morning

• You can also follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Google +

“Our consular staff are not there to pay for the repairs to your jet ski; they’re not there to pay your hotel bill; they’re not there to lend you a laptop or to provide you with office space in the embassy for you to do your work,” Ms Bishop said, listing real requests that Australian embassies have refused.

At the embassy in Bangkok – Australia’s busiest – an Australian walked in with a prostitute and was refused a loan to pay for services already provided, said Anita Downey, a senior official at the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT). Such requests are common at that embassy, she said.