Scott Morrison confirms vessel from Sri Lanka intercepted while en route to Australia

Scott Morrison has confirmed a boat from Sri Lanka was intercepted while illegally en route to Australia.

Scott Morrison has confirmed a boat from Sri Lanka was intercepted by authorities on Saturday morning in a “likely attempt” to illegally enter Australia.

In a major development, Mr Morrison confirmed — in the spirit of “full transparency”— that the boat had been intercepted by Australian authorities just days after the Sri Lankan navy intercepted another vessel off the west coast of Christmas Island on Wednesday.

“I can confirm that there’s been an interception of a vessel en route to Australia,” Mr Morrison told reporters, after casting his vote in his local electorate of Cook.

“That vessel has been intercepted in accordance with the policies of the government and they’re following those normal protocols.

“And I can simply say this.

“I’ve been here to stop this boat, but in order for me to be there to stop those that may come from here, you need to vote Liberal and Nationals today.

“In the interests of full transparency, in the middle of an election campaign, the Labor Party was advised of this and a statement has been issued by the border protection authorities.”

It was a different tact to when Mr Morrison was Immigration Minister and proclaimed there would be no discussion of “on water matters” when Australia began turning back asylum seeker vessels at sea in November 2013.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison confirmed that

It is understood about 15 people were on board the vessel that was intercepted by Australian authorities off the west coast of Christmas Island after almost making it to land.

Those people were on Saturday afternoon on board an Operation Sovereign Borders vessel having their credentials verified.

The Liberal Party moved quickly to share the information with voters following Mr Morrison’s announcement.

A spokesman confirmed it sent text messages out to an undisclosed amount of mobile phone numbers on Saturday afternoon advising people to vote Liberal in order to keep the nation’s borders secure.

“BREAKING - Aust Border Force has intercepted an illegal boat trying to reach Aus. Keep our borders secure by voting Liberal today. http://voteliberal.org.au/,” the text message reads.

Screenshots of the text messages have been shared widely on social media and they have been received by voters in the tightly-contested seats of Gilmore, Corangamite and Bennelong.

The Australian Electoral Commission said it was aware the texts had been sent out.

“These types of messages are not prohibited by the Electoral Act and parties are exempt from privacy and spam laws,” the AEC wrote on Twitter.

Shadow Treasurer Jim Chalmers told Sky News that Labor would “always support” Operation Sovereign Borders.

“I don’t think anyone would be particularly surprised to see the Liberals trying to play politics with this, but I think people know that the major plans of this policy are the same – Labor or Liberal,” Dr Chalmers said.

“They know that if they make that journey, you’ll be turned back or sent to Nauru, and I think beyond that… I think the government has engaged in this kind of last minute, desperate act.”

Shadow Minister for Home Affairs Kristina Keneally said people smuggling was a “vile trade”.

“The people smuggling trade is vile and risks the lives of the people at sea,” she said.

“To be clear – If you attempt to come to Australia by boat you will not make it and you will be turned around, or sent to Nauru.

“Labor thanks the Operation Sovereign Borders Joint Agency Task Force for their continued work at keeping our borders secure.”

Home Affairs Minister Karen Andrews used the intercept to declare that a Labor government would mean the people smugglers were “back in business” because of their opposition to temporary protection visas.

She noted that the Sri Lankan navy had intercepted a fishing vessel and two dinghies carrying dozens of people on Wednesday before Saturday’s development.

They were stopped off the Batticaloa coast.

“This is not scaremongering, this is a reality and it has been demonstrated by the two attempts that we are aware of,” she told reporters at a press conference on Saturday.

“We don’t know if there are any other attempts that have been made over the last few days and we don’t know if there have been any deaths at sea.

“I’ve said very clearly on my watch that I wanted no people to be attempting to travel to Australia illegally by boat and I didn’t want any deaths at sea.

“I’m very pleased that these two ventures have been intercepted and that the position of the Australian government, the Morrison-led government is very clear - that there is zero chance of being able to come to Australia by boat illegally.”

She said that the Labor government posed a risk to Australia’s borders because of its opposition to temporary protection visas, which are aimed at denying permanent resettlement.

“The risk that an Albanese government, a Labor government poses to us has been demonstrated by those two attempts that we know of to come to Australia by boat,” she said.

“These could have ended in very tragic circumstances for those people attempting to come to Australia by boat.

Home Affairs Minister Karen Andrews said a Labor government would mean people smugglers were ‘back in business’. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Gary Ramage

“I have said during the course of this election campaign that Operation Sovereign Borders has three very distinct components.

“And that is to turn back boats where it is safe to do so, regional processing and the third part of that is temporary protection visas.

“The Labor party has made it abundantly clear that they do not support temporary protection visas and in their view they are not required.

“I have said that is a significant deterrent. We have seen now the risks that people are prepared to take to come to Australia by boat because they think there’s potential for a Labor government to be elected today.

“And that would mean for the people smugglers that they were back in business.”

The Australian Border Force’s Operation Sovereign Borders Commander Rear Admiral Justin Jones said that the vessel was intercepted “in a likely attempt to illegally enter Australia from Sri Lanka”.

This boat was intercepted by Sri Lanka Navy.

“The Australian government’s policy remains unchanged,” he said.

“We will intercept any vessel seeking to reach Australia illegally and to safely return those on board to their point of departure or country of origin.

“Measures and safeguards are in place to enable actions and activities to be undertaken in accordance with Australian domestic law and Australia’s obligations under international law.

“The overriding priority for all agencies involved in Operation Sovereign Borders is the safety of all persons involved, including potential illegal immigrants and vessel crews as well as Australian personnel.”

He said they would make no further comment, which was in line with “long standing practice”.