The prime minister, John Howard, has asked Indonesians to try to understand Australia's granting of temporary protection visas to a group of Papuans.
Indonesia's importers association has called on its members to boycott Australian products, and there have been street protests against Australia in Jakarta.
Mr Howard says, in the past, he has asked Australians to respect rulings by Indonesian courts and is now asking for that degree of understanding from Indonesians.
He says there is a lot of criticism in Indonesia about the decision and Indonesians should understand and respect the Australian processes, which are determined by international agreements.