Immigration Minister Scott Morrison has confirmed that all 27 asylum seekers who arrived on Christmas Island undetected this week have been found and are safe.
The asylum seekers landed on a remote beach on the southeast coast of the island late Monday evening.
They were discovered yesterday, when a small group was found walking along a main road into town.
In response to questions over how the boat arrival went undetected he said the incident was "unusual" and that there would be a "post-incident operational assessment."
“We should never forget that this is a very big ocean,” says Morrison.
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“These are very small vessels and these 27 people who are now safe should count themselves extremely fortunate that they did not suffer a far worse fate.”
General Angus Campbell also confirmed that there are radar capabilities on the island to detect the approach of boats but these can be unreliable, depending on sea swell and the size of the craft.
Morrison says that all 27 asylum seekers are now in the care of the Department of Immigration, and are either at the Phosphate Hill facility or on their way.
However one single adult male remains at the hospital after sustaining minor injuries.
Labor, Greens criticise failure to detect boat
Federal Labor is questioning the effectiveness of Operation Sovereign Borders after the incident.
Opposition immigration spokesman Richard Marles says the government has some explaining to do, especially in light of its military-style border protection operation.
"How is it with that discipline and focus that an asylum seeker (boat) has made it to Christmas Island without being detected?" he said on ABC radio on Friday.
Greens' immigration spokesperson Senator Sarah Hanson-Young said the fact more information was coming from locals than the government was an embarrassment.
"And reports from locals that the boat may have been drifting for some time raise questions about the capacity of search and rescue operations that have been thrown into chaos in recent weeks," Senator Hanson-Young said.
"The government's dangerous policies are not stopping the boats."
Asylum seeker arrival numbers updated
Today's briefing also confirmed that four boats have arrived in the last week, containing 162 asylum seekers.
Lieutenant General Angus Campbell said this 'clustering' of boat arrivals may be due to asylum seekers trying to reach Australia before the monsoon season.
He also denied any link to spate of arrivals to the recent breakdown of Indo-Australia relations.
