'Balance border protection with humanity'

ANNA Bligh has warned Australia faces a difficult balancing act between border protection and treating asylum seekers humanely

ANNA Bligh has warned Australia faces a difficult balancing act between border protection and treating asylum seekers humanely.

Speaking in her capacity as ALP national president, the Queensland Premier sighed yesterday when asked whether she was comfortable with the concept of large detention centres such as the controversial camp on Christmas Island. As the political fallout from Wednesday's sea tragedy intensified, with the federal government under growing pressure to launch an inquiry into the detention system, Ms Bligh warned: "These issues are not going to go away for us as a country."

She told The Australian: "I think as a nation we are all struggling with how we should protect our borders from illegal entry, how we should ensure we process people who are seeking asylum in a humane way and whether the detention centres are on Australian soil or places like Christmas Island.

"There are always going to be difficulties when you're holding large number of people. But it's a reflection of what a desirable destination Australia is."

While she stressed it was too early to jump to conclusions about what happened off Christmas Island, Ms Bligh described the loss of life as catastrophic, and said it was inevitable Australia's policy settings would be questioned. "There is no doubt this is an absolutely shocking incident," she said.

"I think it will touch the hardest of hearts . . . and it's clear from the Prime Minister's decision to return from leave that she understands this does raise some questions."

Ms Bligh spoke out as the Greens, refugee advocates and lawyers called for an inquiry into how the Indonesian fishing vessel was allowed to reach the Indian Ocean territory without being intercepted by customs or the navy. One of the balance-of-power independent MPs, Rob Oakeshott, said yesterday the government had to tackle "head on" rumours that authorities had stood by as the doomed boat approached Christmas Island.

Greens immigration spokeswoman Sarah Hanson-Young called for an inquiry into the disaster.

"We know there is incredible surveillance and sharing of information between Australia and Indonesia," she told ABC Television. "As the inquiry rolls out . . . hopefully we'll start to get some answers about who knew what, when and how this happened."

The Australian Lawyers Alliance wants a full judicial inquiry into how customs and the navy carried out their duties.

"An independent judicial inquiry into these deaths is imperative because of the number of people involved and the circumstances," alliance director Greg Barns said in a statement.

ADDITIONAL REPORTING: AAP