Shazza from Christmas Island with a report of 6 boat arrivals ...
www.michaelsmithnews.com/.../shazza-from-christmas-island-with-a-rep...
Mar 16, 2014 - This boat arrived at Christmas Island. The weather was perfect - just the sort of day you'd love to be at sea. And look what MV Ocean Protector ...

A NEW asylum boat arrived at Christmas Island on Thursday but the Abbott Government again refused to provide any information.

Photos showed several male asylum seekers being spoken to by Customs officers while being taken ashore for health and security checks.

Immigration Minister Scott Morrison's office yesterday declined to comment on the arrival in line with the government's tactics since winning power not to be the "shipping news" service for people smugglers.

"Updates on Operation Sovereign Borders, including illegal boat arrivals, are provided at weekly briefings," a spokesman said.

But it is unclear whether the government will release details at its weekly Operation Sovereign Borders briefing, expected on Friday, after not doing so last week when a boat arrived the day before.

This would mean it was reported eight days after it arrived.

Last Friday, Defence Vice Chief Air Marshall Mark Binskin claimed "if I haven't reported it, it didn't happen" when asked about a boat arrival the day before.

The government said the boat had not been processed by 9am on the Friday morning and would report in the following week's briefing.

It was the only asylum seeker boat arrival during that week as a crackdown by Indonesian Police since the election thwarted 550 would be asylum seekers from getting on boats.

IMMIGRATION Minister Scott Morrison has refused to confirm claims by refugee activists that a boat carrying Tamil asylum seekers is in trouble.

Refugee activists said last night that the 21m boat carrying 153 asylum seekers, which left from India, had sprung an oil leak and was 300km west of Christmas Island.

Mr Morrison said there were no significant incidents at sea to report.

“I am advised that I have no such report to provide to you today,’’ he told reporters in Melbourne this morning.

He would not confirm if there was a boat, if it was in Australian waters or if the government was taking any action.

Refugee Action Coalition spokesman Ian Rintoul said there were concerns the boat would run out of oil before it reached Christmas Island, and the government would try to divert the asylum seekers or leave assistance until it was too late.

“The boat is making very slow headway, but they do have an oil leak and are concerned that they will run out of oil before they reach Christmas Island,” Mr Rintoul said.

Mr Rintoul said he had spoken to an asylum seeker on board, and said Australia was the only country in the region with the rescue capabilities to ensure their safety.

“We are extremely concerned that the government may attempt to divert the asylum seekers or leave assistance until it is too late,” Mr Rintoul said.

579,

Posting reports on illegal arrivals from Oct 2013 is silly.

Secondly, if there is an illegal boat 170 odd Nautical miles off Xmas island, then it is well within Indonesian waters, to be rescued by Indonesia. I wish them well for their application for asylum through the Australian UNHCR rep in Indonesia.

Finally, the AEMO report has a few problems.
1 It assumes that the $300bn odd comes with no interest or financing changes, which would blow it out to about $500bn.
2 The cost of power generated from renewables does not include the capital cost.
3 The $500bn does not give the country any additional capacity, only replaces fossil fuel for another source.
4. It has assumed capacity for hot rocks and wave power that have yet to prove viable.
5. The issue of the night time peak generation on a windless night following an overcast day has yet to be addressed.

In short it is a crock of dung.

Total wind energy supplied to the states of NSW, South Australia, Tasmania and Victoria reached a record 2598-megawatt at 10.30pm according to National Electricity Market data analysed by Pitt & Sherry.

That Strong winds of around 60 kph are set to continue until the weekend, when the next cold front sets in and the weather gets
Saturdays wind energy records have been blown away by the wintry storm that ripped through the country’s southsupply met 14.9 per cent of total demand.

Wind’s share was even higher at 4.30am, with 19.2 per cent of the market, said Hugh Saddler, Pitt & Sherry’s principal consultant.
“The four-state value was about 10 per cent above the previous highest value, which was in October 2013,” Dr Saddler said.

According to the Clean Energy Council’s latest annual report, wind power from Australia’s 68 wind farms supplied about 4 per cent of total demand last year.

South Australia is home to about 37 per cent of the country’s wind farms – hence the surge of supply on Monday evening as the storm system headed eastwards on its way to Melbourne and then Sydney.
Tuesday’s total wind supply for the four states fell only slightly shy of Monday’s total, Dr Saddler said

Refugee Action Coalition spokesman Ian Rintoul said the 21m boat carrying 153 Tamil asylum seekers, which left from India, had sprung an oil leak and was about 175 nautical miles from Christmas Island at 9am this morning.

As a result of the leak, he said the vessel was only likely to have engine power for another few hours and would then be in ``immediate danger if the engine fails and the boat’s not manoeuvrable, vulnerable to capsize and vulnerable to the elements’’.

By 1.45pm, Mr Rintoul said satellite telephone calls to the boat were not connecting and he had no way of knowing if disaster had struck.

The Australian Maritime Safety Authority was alerted about the boat on Friday and is understood to have been monitoring it today.

AMSA would not comment and a spokesman said Customs and Border Protection was handling the case.

A Customs spokeswoman referred media inquiries to Immigration Minister Scott Morrison, who would not confirm if there was a boat, if it was in Australian waters or if the government was taking any action.

Staff on Christmas Island have been told to prepare for the possible arrival of asylum seekers, according to Labor MP Alannah MacTiernan.

An asylum seeker vessel made contact with marine rescue authorities on Thursday night claiming to be leaking oil 300 kilometres west of Christmas Island.

The ABC understands that vessel is from southern India and has more than 150 people on board, including 37 children.

Ms MacTiernan said people onboard two asylum seeker boats were picked up by border protection authorities on Saturday evening.

She said staff on Christmas Island were "on standby waiting for instructions", but do not know whether the asylum seekers will arrive on Christmas Island or "be taken elsewhere".

"They're saying that two boats have been intercepted and the ship on which they're being loaded is in Christmas Island waters," she told the ABC.

"And everyone is on standby waiting for instructions as to whether or not the boat is going to be unloaded here or whether or not it's going to be taken elsewhere.

"They're hearing the people are from south India but they're not clear whether or not they're originally Sri Lankan."

However, Christmas Island Shire Councillor Philip Woo says he has not seen any indication of boats arriving at the island.

"I have been to the wharf and back and there's no boats approaching Christmas Island, there's only a Navy boat out there," he told ABC News Online.

Mr Woo says there are Australian Federal Police officers patrolling the island and the detention centre.

"There are, I think, close to about 60 of them [AFP officers]. They are looking after the detainees on the island. I don't know the actual amount whether they are increasing or not," he said.