Latest boat arrival the 300th: Morrison

An asylum-seeker boat intercepted off the coast of Western Australia is the 300th to arrive since the Pacific Solution was abolished, the opposition says.

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An asylum-seeker boat intercepted off the coast of Western Australia on Friday night is the 300th to arrive since the Howard government's Pacific Solution was abolished, the opposition says.

The Australian Navy stopped the "suspected illegal entry vessel" northwest of Ashmore Islands on Friday night.

Around 60 passengers said to be on board were taken to Christmas Island.

The federal opposition says the arrival again demonstrates the government's failure to protect the country's borders.

"The latest illegal boat arrival, with 60 people on board, is the 300th boat and the 300th border protection policy failure under Labor," Opposition immigration spokesman Scott Morrison said in a statement on Saturday.

He estimated almost 17,000 people had illegally arrived by boat, since Labor won the federal election in 2007.

Former Prime Minister John Howard's Pacific Solution, which from 2001 to 2007 saw asylum seekers transported to detention centres on small nations in the Pacific, rather than to mainland Australia, was abolished by the Labor government.



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Source: AAP


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Latest boat arrival the 300th: Morrison | SBS News