‘Full force of law’: smuggled boat arrivals deported
Laine Clark |
A group of foreign nationals have been deported after a Taiwanese man was charged over a failed people smuggling operation in northern Australia.
Campers were stunned when the group arrived by boat on a far north Queensland beach on Tuesday before visiting a bakery at nearby Weipa and being apprehended near a pub.
On Thursday, Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke said the operation had concluded.
“Every person who attempted to enter Australia without a visa has now been removed,” he said in a statement.
“Those who assisted them will face the full force of the law.
“It remains the case that no people smuggling venture has been successful for more than a decade.”
A 34-year-old Taiwanese national was arrested in a supermarket car park at Weipa on Tuesday after a community member reported suspicious activity.
He has been charged with the aggravated offence of people smuggling involving at least five persons and faces up to 20 years’ imprisonment if found guilty.
The man was remanded in custody to face Cairns Magistrates Court on Thursday.
Another man, 30, was also detained by police pending further inquiries.
On Tuesday, about 12 people – believed to be Chinese nationals – were spotted on a remote beach camping spot before travelling to Weipa where Josh Lyon from the local bakery said the group had come in and bought food and drink before relaxing outside.
“I didn’t think much of it at the time. They were quite calm and didn’t look too edgy or anything like that,” he told AAP.
“They had a couple of burgers and a couple of cans of Coke and sat out the front, they just sat on the table and chairs – it was just another day in paradise.”
Local state MP David Kempton said the group was apprehended near Weipa’s Albatross Bay Resort.
Queensland’s Police Minister Dan Purdie on Thursday confirmed officers had helped Australian Border Force by apprehending the foreign nationals.
“The Queensland Police support of the operation was to help detain those people and we did that,” he told reporters.
However he took aim at the commonwealth over the incident, saying Cook MP Mr Kempton had previously raised the alarm over northern Australia’s “porous” border.
“There’s biosecurity risks with these people coming ashore, there’s all sorts of risks,” Mr Purdie said.
“I would’ve thought a successful (Australian Border Force) operation looked like intercepting a boat before they rocked up into town.”
AAP