Christmas Island administrator Jon Stanhope says he would consider quitting the post if the federal government tried to gag residents from talking about asylum seeker arrivals.
The Abbott government says it will release weekly information about asylum seeker boat arrivals, abandoning the previous Labor government's practice of informing the media every time a boat reached Australia.
Immigration Minister Scott Morrison says keeping close control of information about boat arrivals denies people smugglers the opportunity to exploit such announcements.
But that approach has been tested by Christmas Island residents, who told media on Sunday about the arrival of a boat carrying about 30 people.
Mr Stanhope said he had not been told of any information blackout policy.
News that makes sense
Your trusted source for staying up-to-date with the world around you. Get free daily news updates and analysis, straight to your inbox.
"I've certainly not been advised of a government policy that there's to be no announcements or no information provided about boats arriving here on Christmas Island," he told ABC radio on Monday.
"I find it absolutely remarkable that there could be a policy in place that would seek to prevent 2000 Australians that live on Christmas Island from talking about what happens here."
The former Labor ACT chief minister said if he was given a directive not to speak freely about boat arrivals he "would seriously have to consider my position".
That didn't necessarily mean he would quit though, he said.
Mr Stanhope said there had been a noticeable decline in the rate of boat arrivals over the past month.
"I have absolutely no doubt that the new policies are having an effect," he said.
Mr Morrison is expected to give his first media briefing on boat arrivals on Monday.
