Abbott won't risk Indon ties for Bali Nine

Prime Minister Tony Abbott says Australia is doing all it can to help two Bali Nine members facing the death penalty in Indonesia.

But he has cautioned that it would be "foolish" to jeopardise diplomatic ties with the country's closest neighbour.

His comments come after Bali Nine member Myuran Sukumaran, 33, had his presidential clemency bid rejected on Wednesday.

The decision closes Sukumaran's final avenue to overturn his 2006 death sentence over a plot to smuggle more than 8kg of heroin from Bali to Sydney.

"My profound hope is that these executions don't go ahead," Mr Abbott said in Adelaide on Thursday.

"What I'm not going to do, though, is jeopardise the relationship with Indonesia.

"We believe that we can make the strongest possible representations on behalf of our citizens on death row in Indonesia while at the same time preserving a strong and constructive relationship."

Mr Abbott rejected a suggestion that a recent spying scandal had affected the clemency bid.

Indonesians protested and the country recalled its ambassador to Australia in 2013 following revelations that Australian spies had attempted to tap the phones of top Indonesian officials including then-president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and his wife.