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CANBERRA - A boatload of suspected asylum seekers intercepted near Christmas Island could be sent to the Australian detention centre on Nauru for processing, Prime Minister John Howard says.
The 85, all men claiming to be from Sri Lanka although some are suspected to be from Indonesia, were taken aboard the supply ship HMAS Success late Wednesday when their boat was deemed to be unseaworthy.
It is the second arrival of asylum seekers since 43 Papuans landed on Cape York in January 2006, leading to a diplomatic rift with Indonesia.
Eight Rohingan people from Burma arrived on Ashmore Reef in August last year and were taken to Nauru.
Mr Howard said today Australia's hardline policy of sending asylum seekers to offshore detention centres had not changed, and the latest arrival was a chance to reassert the government's position.
"They will not be allowed to land on the Australian mainland," he told Southern Cross Broadcasting.
"Clearly, sending them to Nauru is an option, but we are assessing all of the options.
"It's an opportunity for Australia to send a signal to people smugglers that they needn't think for a moment that our policy has changed.
"This is a demonstration that we still have a very strong, effective border protection policy."
Mr Howard said he did not think the asylum seekers' arrival would spark a new flurry of boat arrivals.
Earlier today, Immigration Minister Kevin Andrews said there were indications some of the men on board the ship were Indonesians.
Border protection was a key issue of the 2001 election campaign, when Mr Howard's controversial decision to reject some 430 asylum seekers rescued from a sinking boat by the Norwegian freighter Tampa helped reverse the government's sagging electoral fortunes.
- AAP
