Prime Minister Tony Abbott is defending his government's weekly briefings on asylum seekers despite questions about an ongoing rescue operation involving Australian authorities going largely unanswered.
Mr Abbott said on Friday there was a current situation involving a boat in Indonesia's search and rescue zone, and that Australian authorities were attending.
It was little more information than was provided earlier by Immigration Minister Scott Morrison at his weekly briefing, who confirmed the incident and said all the asylum seekers on board had been accounted for.
But Mr Morrison refused to answer any questions about an alleged stand-off with Indonesian authorities, or give any other details about the unfolding situation south of Java.
Mr Abbott defended the government's reluctance to offer details of operations at sea, saying the important thing was to stop the boats.
"The best way to stop the boats is to ensure ... we are not providing a shipping news service for people smugglers," he told reporters in Melbourne.
"None of you would want to jeopardise our operations to stop the boats surely, given that we have seen a absolutely tragic toll in lives lost at sea while people-smuggling operations continue."
He said the weekly briefings would continue for as long as necessary, and journalists could ask whatever they wished of Mr Morrison and Operation Sovereign Borders commander Lieutenant General Angus Campbell.
"They are happy to answer questions as fully as they can consistent with the need to deny to people smugglers information that would be helpful to them," he said.
But when quizzed about the incident about 40 nautical miles off the coast of Indonesia, Lt Gen Campbell bluntly refused three times to comment "in relation to on-water matters".
Mr Morrison said he wasn't in the business of offering "micro details" on military matters, but did deny there a stand-off was taking place.
"There's no real difference in the way this matter has been handled to any other matters have been handled over the past eight weeks," he said.
Shadow immigration minister Richard Marles said Australians were finding out more about asylum seeker boats from the Indonesian government than from Mr Morrison.
"Australians have a right to know what is happening. This weekly charade from Scott Morrison has to stop," he said.
"If there is a stand-off and our defence forces are being used in this way, then Australians have a right to know."
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