Border Force collects five men from illegal boat arrival

Officers were directed how to find the latest group of suspected asylum seekers to reach the Australian mainland by the pilot of a mustering helicopter in the Northern Territory.

This still from video footage shows five men stranded. They appear to have been on Australian soil for several days before they were discovered.

Australian Border Force officers were directed how to find the latest group of suspected asylum seekers to reach the Australian mainland by the pilot of a mustering helicopter in the Northern Territory.

Video from the helicopter shows the five men on a beach on Thursday. They had scrawled SOS in the sand and raised a red flag on a pole. The government would not acknowledge the arrival on Saturday or indicate where the men came from or their reason for travelling to Australia. While illegal fishers from Indonesia are common in waters close to the NT and West Australian coasts, crews on those boats generally try hard to avoid detection.

The Australian has been told the pilot discovered the men on Thursday and alerted Australian Border Force, who collected them three hours later. ABF asked the pilot to leave the men with water bottles, which he did, and ABF offered to return the bottles the following day.

The men appeared tired and were not wearing hats. There was no sign of a boat.

The men did not speak English, according to the helicopter pilot who found them.

In 2023 and 2024, people smugglers were able to land clients on the Australian mainland in ventures that evaded detection until well after the passengers sought help or were found. This happened on at least three occasions on the Kimberley coast in Western Australia’s far north.

For decades, people smugglers launching boats from Indonesia had relied exclusively on slow, rickety vessels. Criminal syndicates knew the boats would be burnt by Australian authorities once intercepted. These boats were deliberately steered into Australian waters – often in the direction of Christmas Island or Ashmore Reef – with the intention that they could be intercepted. However, a more recent tactic has been to launch fast boats in an attempt to land clients on the mainland.

Coalition Home Affairs spokesman James Paterson. Picture: NewsWire / Martin Ollman

Coalition Home Affairs spokesman James Paterson said the arrival was “deeply concerning”.

“Once again, we have seen the Albanese government relying on private businesses alerting the government to serious security concerns, like when a Virgin Australia pilot was the first to alert the government to a PLA-N live fire exercise in the Tasman Sea,” Senator Paterson said.

“Time and time again, we have seen Labor fail to keep Australia safe. Only A Dutton Coalition government will restore Operation Sovereign Borders and stop the boats.”

In a written statement, Immigration minister Tony Burke told The Australian: “We do not confirm, or comment on, operational matters.”

Immigration minister Tony Burke Tony Burke. Picture: Sam Ruttyn

Mr Burke also pointed to the longstanding practice of swiftly removing asylum seekers who arrive in Australia by boat.

Since the final weeks of the Rudd Labor government in 2013, it has been a bipartisan policy to send illegal boat arrivals home and if they cannot be sent home they are flown to an offshore processing centre to be ultimately resettled, but not in Australia.

Christmas Island is not an offshore processing centre because it is an Australian territory. Nauru is the only offshore processing centre used by Australia since the closure of detention facilities on Manus Island. As part of Australia’s latest arrangement with Nauru, asylum seekers taken there can apply to settle permanently in the US or New Zealand.

“There has never been a successful people smuggling venture under our government, and that remains true,” Mr Burke said.

Since the 2022 election, there have been 27 people smuggling boat operations confirmed by Operation Sovereign Borders in its monthly reports.

Most of these were intercepted at sea. At least five reached the Australian mainland.