Latest asylum boat arrival proves Australia's border policy failed

The latest arrival of the 100th asylum seekers' boat in Australia proves the federal government's border control policies have failed, Opposition immigration spokesman Scott Morrison told Australia Associated Press on Monday. An Australian navy patrol boat on Monday intercepted a vessel suspected of carrying 93 asylum seekers in northwest of Christmas Island. The latest arrival is the 100th asylum seeker boat intercepted since the last federal election in August last year. Morrison said more and more people were piling onto boats, with an average of 70 people aboard the boats that arrived this month, up from 50 per boat last year. "More and more people getting on these boats is only increasing the risk of this journey, which of course concerns all Australians, " he said in Perth on Monday. "As long as Labor continues to cling to policy failure in the area of border protection, then we will continue to see boats arrive." He suggested the Christmas Island facility would soon be stretched to the limit, requiring more transfers of asylum seekers to the mainland. He also said if the federal government is cutting budget so as to return budget to surplus in 2012/13, then it should not adopt the Australian Greens position of allowing single male asylum seekers into the community, because this new Greens policies on border protection and detention will cost the Australian taxpayer. The High Court earlier ruled Australia's Malaysia solution, which planned to send 800 asylum seekers to Malaysia, in return for accepting 4,000 from Malaysia, is invalid. The federal government claimed the plan will stop refugee arriving by boat. The ruling has left the federal government reeling without a credible border protection policy, and increased the likelihood of a fresh wave of boat arrivals.