12 people arrive by boat on a remote part of Western Australia coast
Authorities are investigating how a group of 12 people landed on a remote part of the West Australian coast after travelling by boat from Indonesia. The ABC has confirmed border force officials have not yet established how the group managed to get ashore without detection.
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00:00 The ABC has confirmed that 12 people have made it to a remote part of the north-west
00:08 of Australia's mainland, so a part of the West Australian coast around the township
00:14 of Truscott.
00:15 We know that they've arrived from Indonesia, but I'm told that authorities are yet to establish
00:21 precisely where their boat is now, whether they were dropped off.
00:25 There are suggestions locally that they were in fact rescued by an Indigenous community
00:31 in this part of the Kimberley coast of Western Australia.
00:36 That is yet to be confirmed, but authorities are now trying to establish exactly how this
00:42 group of a dozen people arrived undetected to Australia.
00:47 And now, of course, this is going to require a bit more investigating and authorities are
00:54 going through their usual processes.
00:56 And has there been any official response?
00:58 No, there hasn't.
01:00 The ABC has contacted the Australian Border Force for comment.
01:04 It says that it does not comment on operational matters.
01:08 We know that with boat arrivals there is a regular reporting that happens every month
01:14 or so, but that won't happen for some time yet.
01:18 But the opposition has been quick to comment.
01:21 The Shadow Home Affairs Minister, James Paterson, says that if confirmed officially that this
01:27 is an asylum seeker boat arrival, that that would be, quote, "alarming" and he has pointed
01:33 out that it would be the 10th illegal boat arrival since the election in May last year.
01:40 [BLANK_AUDIO]