Suse,

"If the media rave on about asylum seeker boats arriving on our shores and we watch TV footage of the arrivals happily being taken ashore, then potential leaky boat people and people smugglers will just be spurred on."

Sorry, but that is straight out of the LNP's book of rank hypocrisy.

Are you telling me that Morrison who held a media conference everytime a boat landed, is now requesting to be taken seriously that he's doing this to dissuade smugglers.

He's spent years yelling from the rooftops whenever a boat loomed on the horizon...for political purposes

We all know that it's a strategy to hide the boats to hide the fact they can't just click their fingers and stop the boats. That "stop the boats" was nothing but an election slogan.

Ahem, do the presume that in 2013 that they will able to keep this information "secret"...on an island with civilians with access to social media.

Sham hypocrisy from a sneaky govt....(dumb, but sneaky)

Luciferase,
What you are talking about is useless information really. People have a right to know how many prisoners there are in the local watch-house or how many guns the army has at a particular depot or how many brake shoes the railway ordered for the next year. They have a right to know but they really don't want to know because they couldn't care less.
I am sure that if you really want to know how many boats arrive and when all you would have to do is ring the office of the genersl in charge and they would tell you.

".....I am sure that if you really want to know how many boats arrive and when all you would have to do is ring the office of the genersl in charge and they would tell you."

Ho,ho,ho......

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-09-23/detention-asylum-seekers-border-control-sovereign/4974016

"Christmas Island's administrator Jon Stanhope says he will have to reconsider his position if told not to speak publicly about boat arrivals."

"However, Mr Stanhope expressed surprise at the Coalition's attempt to effectively gag thousands of people on the issue of boat arrivals.

"I would find it absolutely remarkable that there could be a policy that would seek to prevent 2,000 Australians on Christmas Island talking about what happens here," Mr Stanhope said."

"A former Christmas Island administrator, Brian Lacy, meantime has labelled the decision to only provide weekly updates on asylum seeker arrivals as "puerile."

Mr Lacy says withholding information does not make any impact on the actions of those seeking asylum.

"There's simply no measure of deterrents that we could introduce that will stop these people fleeing the persecution and the brutality of their homeland and braving the elements for a better life in Australia or anywhere else for that matter," he said."

Welcome to "1984" - LNP style.

Poirot, I am not saying it is a good policy, merely that it may dissuade some people from jumping on a leaky boat if they don't hear of other successful boats!

I agree the Coalition aren't doing it for that reason of course, but it surely may help save some lives.....I hope.

The other thing is that it is coming into the start of the cyclone season up north next month, so the boats normally slow down then anyway.
I reckon that's when Abbott will open the lines of communications re boat arrivals.

@Poirot,

<<"A former Christmas Island administrator, Brian Lacy, meantime has labelled the decision to only provide weekly updates on asylum seeker arrivals as "puerile.">>

I'll bet you were up all night on the web looking for that one --great cherry pick!

<<"There's simply no measure of deterrents that we could introduce that will stop these people fleeing the persecution and the brutality of their homeland and braving the elements for a better life in Australia or anywhere else for that matter," he said.">>

Another cherry, from same tree?

Except all thinking people (and I know that kinda leaves you out!) but all thinking people know that the illegals are not RUNNING FROM persecution, they are RUNNING TO(Wards) an affluent lifestyle in a Western country--with lots of freebies

You just have to get over it Poirot, your side lost the election.The people of Oz dont want your dopey open border policies!