Operation Sovereign Borders commander Lieutenant-General Angus Campbell has confirmed the federal government has not bought any Indonesian fishing boats to stop them falling in the hands of people smugglers.
During the election campaign, the coalition announced plans to by up rickety Indonesian fishing boats, as part of a $420 million people smuggler deterrence strategy.
The Indonesian government criticised the plan and it was ridiculed by Labor, which noted that the archipelago had more than 750,000 fishing boats.
Lieutenant-General Campbell told a senate estimates hearing on Tuesday that no boats had been bought.
But the option was still on the table even though the measure "isn't one the Indonesian government wishes to see being applied ... which we respect".
Australian Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young said it was a ludicrous policy and it was no wonder not one boat has been purchased.
"The fact that the coalition government has tried to hide this for the past two months shows just how shifty the government is," she said in a statement.
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