Coalition floats 'asylum centres at sea' idea

THE Coalition has considered the idea of a "floating processing centre" to hold asylum-seekers temporarily while the Nauru facility is made operational.

THE Coalition has considered the idea of a "floating processing centre" to hold asylum-seekers, using a naval troop carrier or even a "hired cruise liner" to temporarily house them outside Australian waters while the Nauru facility is made operational. The Australian understands that because reopening Nauru would take at least 12 weeks, the opposition wants to have a stop-gap option available that would deter people from boarding dangerous boats and making their way to Christmas Island.

A senior Liberal source said the floating processing centre option was designed for a scenario in which the Coalition came to power and was called on to implement its measures when sea conditions were especially treacherous.

It would also send a clear message to people-smugglers that the Liberal Party would "do what we have to to stop the boats" immediately, the source said.

One of the challenges to the floating processing centre option is the viability of a vessel being stationed in the seas surrounding Christmas Island at this time of year or during the end of year monsoon season when sea conditions worsen, a difficulty Liberals have canvassed internally.

Another asylum-seeker boat carrying 53 Sri Lankans arrived at Christmas Island yesterday after their vessel, SIEV 365, was intercepted by the navy.

Earlier in the day, 67 of their countrymen arrived at the island's airport after they made it to the Cocos Islands.

A spokesman for Tony Abbott said last night there was no policy or plan for the use of vessels to house asylum-seekers.

The latest arrivals came amid a stalemate between the government and the opposition over the reintroduction of offshore processing of asylum-seekers, after the High Court last year threw out Labor's Malaysia Solution.

Opposition immigration spokesman Scott Morrison said the latest boatload showed the new financial year would continue to be dominated by high levels of arrivals. "The government still has no asylum-seeker policy, Julia Gillard is still blaming Tony Abbott for her government's failures and the boats keep on coming," he said.

On ABC TV's Insiders yesterday, Ms Gillard questioned the Opposition Leader's moral character and urged him to heed the advice of the panel, headed by former defence chief Angus Houston, that was appointed last week to end the impasse.

"What kind of person is it who watches that misery, watches that pain, sees that death, hears the advice from experts and won't change their minds one millimetre, won't accept that advice at all?" the Prime Minister said.

Later, Mr Abbott said if the Prime Minister was "fair dinkum", she would work to find common ground to process asylum-seekers in Nauru, he told Sky News.

Ms Gillard will update Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, due to arrive in Darwin today, on the government's attempts to resolve the deadlock.

Greens leader Christine Milne was unmoved in her opposition to offshore processing, saying the parliament had tried last week to arrive at a "quick fix".

Independent MP Rob Oakeshott, whose bill to restore offshore processing was defeated in the Senate last week, said a change of government would not break the impasse.

Additional reporting: Joe Kelly, Matthew Franklin, Debbie Guest