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72-469: The current Commander of Operation Sovereign Borders, Rear Admiral Brett Sonter, was appointed to the command on 10 January 2024. During the 2013 federal election, the Abbott-led Coalition campaigned on a policy that, if elected to government, they would "stop the boats" and would launch Operation Sovereign Borders, combining the resources of multiple government bodies under direct control of

144-542: A three star general . Following the election, Angus Campbell was promoted and appointed to oversee the operations. Following the 2013 election, the portfolio of the Minister for Immigration was renamed as the Minister for Immigration and Border Protection. The appointed ministers, initially Scott Morrison and subsequently Peter Dutton , refused to release information on asylum seeker boat arrivals as they occurred, and

216-438: A "communication campaign to counter people smuggling" with advertisements in multiple languages, targeting "press, radio, social and search media" across Australia. Between January and May 2015, $ 750,000 had been spent on the campaign. Operation Sovereign Borders operates as a Joint Agency Taskforce (JATF), with the support of a range of government agencies, organised as three operational task groups: Abbott's government claimed

288-755: A boat from Vietnam in July. In March 2016, Dutton stated that 698 people on 25 vessels had been turned back since the beginning of the OSB program. In 2014, the status of asylum seekers sent to offshore processing centres in Nauru Regional Processing Centre and Manus Regional Processing Centre was decided: 13 people (9 people from Iran and 4 people from Pakistan ) were granted asylum , while 7 people (from Iran, Pakistan, and Cameroon ) received negative assessments. The asylum protection in Nauru

360-683: A capacity of 23,200 cubic metres per day (146,000 barrels per day) until its closure in 2021, producing most of the state's petrol and diesel. Kwinana also hosts alumina and nickel processing plants, port facilities for grain and other bulk exports, and support industries for mining and petroleum such as heavy and light engineering, and metal fabrication. Shipbuilding (e.g. Austal ) and associated support industries are found at nearby Henderson , just north of Kwinana. Significant secondary industries include cement and building product manufacturing, flour milling, food processing, animal feed production, automotive body building and printing. Western Australia has

432-527: A comparative advantage in resource extraction and processing. As a consequence: In 2019 Western Australia's overseas exports accounted for 46% of the nation's total. The state's major export commodities included iron-ore, petroleum, gold, alumina , nickel, wheat, copper, lithium, chemicals and mineral sands. Western Australia is the world's largest iron-ore producer (34% of the world's total), and extracts 66% (6.9% of world production) of Australia's 306 tonnes (9.8 million troy ounces) of gold in 2022. It

504-459: A further 1,196 species currently recognised but unpublished. They occur within 1,543 genera from 211 families ; there are also 1,276 naturalised alien or invasive plant species, more commonly known as weeds. In the southwest region are some of the largest numbers of plant species for its area in the world. Western Australia's ecoregions include the sandstone gorges of the Kimberley on

576-572: A hot boat engine. Morrison downplayed refugee claims of being abused by the Navy, and called for the ABC to apologise to the Navy. The ABC's Media Watch program opined that ABC News had "over-reached" when reporting the story, and should have been more thorough in verifying the claims. On 4 February, ABC managing director Mark Scott issued a statement saying "The wording around the ABC's initial reporting needed to be more precise on that point", referring to

648-521: A joint review would be conducted to investigate the circumstances under which Australian naval vessels entered Indonesian territorial waters. The inquiry, which covered the period between 1 December 2013 and 20 January 2014, found that two Royal Australian Navy frigates had crossed into Indonesian territory four times during the period, while Customs vessels did so on another two occasions. In response, one Australian Navy officer lost his command, while several others were disciplined. Indonesia has responded to

720-403: A lack of storage and refrigeration facilities favour live animals over imports of processed meat. About half of Australia's live cattle exports come from Western Australia. Resource sector growth in recent years has resulted in significant labour and skills shortages, leading to recent efforts by the state government to encourage interstate and overseas immigration. According to the 2006 census,

792-665: A nation state from sending a refugee back to anywhere where they may face persecution. Pre-empting the decision of the court, Minister for Immigration and Border Protection Morrison announced that the people on the boat would be transferred to the Curtin Immigration Reception and Processing Centre in Western Australia , where they would be assessed by Indian consular officials under an arrangement made with that country to repatriate any Indian citizens or residents. On 2 August, Morrison announced that

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864-546: A ninety per cent reduction in maritime arrivals of asylum seekers. There were 207 in November 2013, as opposed to 2,629 in November 2012. In response, Shadow Minister for Immigration and Border Protection Richard Marles claimed there was a 40 per cent reduction in arrivals in the month following the introduction of the Regional Resettlement Arrangement with Papua New Guinea , shortly before

936-517: A result, the South West region of the state has a higher concentration of rare, threatened or endangered flora and fauna than many areas of Australia, making it one of the world's biodiversity "hot spots". Large areas of the state's wheatbelt region have problems with dryland salinity and the loss of fresh water. The southwest coastal area has a Mediterranean climate . It was originally heavily forested, including large stands of karri , one of

1008-553: A scientific paper, General view of the botany of the vicinity of Swan River . It discusses the vegetation of the Swan River Colony . Europeans began to settle permanently in 1826 when Albany was claimed by Britain to forestall French claims to the western third of the continent. Perth was founded as the Swan River Colony in 1829 by British and Irish settlers, though the outpost languished. Its officials eventually requested convict labour to augment its population. By

1080-628: A significant fishing industry. Products for local consumption and export include western rock lobsters , prawns, crabs, shark and tuna, as well as pearl fishing in the Kimberley region of the state. Processing is conducted along the west coast. Whaling was a key marine industry but ceased at Albany in 1978. Western Australia has the world's biggest plantations of both Indian sandalwood (northern WA) and Australian sandalwood (semi-arid regions), which are used to produce sandalwood oil and incense . The WA sandalwood industry provides about 40% of

1152-439: A weekly media briefing was announced. In January 2014, having not held a media briefing for almost a month, Morrison announced that briefings would be held on what he described as "an as needs basis". On 10 July 2014, Morrison stated that the secrecy policy was put in place by Lieutenant General Campbell, which had been rigorously implemented by ministers, their advisers, and various government departments. On 23 August 2013, during

1224-490: Is 1,862 km (1,157 mi). There are 20,781 km (12,913 mi) of coastline, including 7,892 km (4,904 mi) of island coastline. The total land area occupied by the state is 2.5 million km (970 thousand sq mi). The bulk of Western Australia consists of the extremely old Yilgarn craton and Pilbara craton which merged with the Deccan Plateau of India, Madagascar and

1296-450: Is a major world producer of bauxite, which is processed into alumina at four refineries providing 11% of total world production. Until 2020 diamonds were extracted from the world's largest diamond mine in the far north Kimberley region. Coal mined at Collie is the main fuel for baseload electricity generation in the state's south-west. Agricultural production in WA is a major contributor to

1368-469: Is attributed by historians as an important factor driving the state's population and economic growth. Following a campaign led by Forrest, electors of the colony of Western Australia voted in favour of federation with the five other Australian colonies, resulting in Western Australia officially becoming a state on 1 January 1901. Western Australia is bounded to the east by longitude 129°E,

1440-573: Is currently tilted 10 degrees away from the South Pole towards Western Australia, allowing for aurora australis displays as far north as Geraldton . Western Australia is home to around 630 species of birds (depending on the taxonomy used). Of these around 15 are endemic to the state. The best areas for birds are the southwestern corner of the state and the area around Broome and the Kimberley. The Flora of Western Australia comprises 10,162 published native vascular plant species, along with

1512-817: Is defined as those "transferred to Australian immigration authorities", and does not include arrivals in Australian territorial waters who have been subject to a turnback operation—that is, sent out of Australian waters on their own vessel, or an Australian vessel employed for this purpose. As of 7 February 2014, The Australian newspaper estimated that at least "six boatloads" of asylum seekers had been subject to turnbacks by OSB authorities. On 15 January 2014, an orange fibreglass "survival capsule", containing about 60 asylum seekers, came ashore at Cikepuh in West Java . A second containing 34 people arrived at Pangandaran on 5 February. The Daily Telegraph reported that

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1584-504: Is now known as Cape Inscription, Dirk Hartog Island . For the rest of the 17th century, other Dutch and British navigators encountered the coast of what Abel Tasman named New Holland in 1644, usually unintentionally as demonstrated by the many shipwrecks along the coast of ships that deviated from the Brouwer Route (because of poor navigation and storms). By the late 18th century, British and French sailors had begun to explore

1656-400: Is the northern tropical regions. The Kimberley has an extremely hot monsoonal climate with average annual rainfall ranging from 500 to 1,500 millimetres (20–60 in), but there is a very long almost rainless season from April to November. Eighty-five percent of the state's runoff occurs in the Kimberley, but because it occurs in violent floods and because of the insurmountable poverty of

1728-660: Is what actually stopped the boats." On 6 August 2015, the new immigration minister Peter Dutton announced it had been 12 months since the last successful people smuggling operation, with the last SIEV arriving in Australia's care in July 2014. The ABC News ' Fact Check subsequently listed the Coalition's "We Will Stop the Boats" promise as delivered. In August 2015, Dutton stated that, since December 2013, 633 people on 20 vessels have been subject to turnback operations, including

1800-641: The Group Settlement Scheme of the 1920s, which encouraged farmers to settle the southwest—increased awareness of Australia's western third as a destination for colonists. Led by immigrants from the British Isles, Western Australia's population developed at a faster rate during the twentieth century than it had previously. After World War II , both the eastern states and Western Australia received large numbers of Italians , Croatians and Macedonians . Despite this, Britain has contributed

1872-662: The High Court placed an injunction on any attempted refoulement of the vessel's passengers to Sri Lanka , while the full bench of the Court considered a challenge to the handover on the grounds that the government was breaching non-refoulement obligations under international law . Under Article 33 of the UN Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees , to which Australia is a signatory, this principle forbids

1944-588: The Kaapvaal and Zimbabwe cratons of Southern Africa, in the Archean Eon to form Ur , one of the oldest supercontinents on Earth (3 – 3.2  billion years ago). In May 2017, evidence of the earliest known life on land may have been found in 3.48-billion-year-old geyserite and other related mineral deposits (often found around hot springs and geysers ) uncovered in the Pilbara craton. Because

2016-437: The Swan River Colony with Perth as its capital in 1829. The Western Australian gold rushes of the late 19th century resulted in a significant population influx. The colony was granted responsible government in 1890, the last of the Australian colonies to become self-governing, and federated with the other colonies in 1901. Western Australia's mining sector is a key driver of the state economy . The late 20th century saw

2088-555: The Wheatbelt and temperate southern coastal regions, pastoralism in marginal grassland areas, forestry in the south-west and fishing (including pearling and, historically, whaling ). Western Australia has a geological history dating back to 4.4 billion years ago when Hadean zircons were formed. The earliest direct known life on land, known as stromatolites , started to be created by microbes at around 3.48 billion years ago. The first human inhabitants of Australia arrived from

2160-489: The tallest trees in the world. This agricultural region is one of the nine most bio-diverse terrestrial habitats, with a higher proportion of endemic species than most other equivalent regions. Thanks to the offshore Leeuwin Current , the area is one of the top six regions for marine biodiversity and contains the most southerly coral reefs in the world. Average annual rainfall varies from 300 millimetres (12 in) at

2232-576: The 1890s around Kalgoorlie . In 1887, a new constitution was drafted, providing for the right of self-governance of European Australians, and in 1890, the act granting self-government to the colony was passed by the British Parliament . John Forrest became the first Premier of Western Australia . In 1896, after discoveries of gold at Coolgardie and Kalgoorlie , the Western Australian Parliament authorised

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2304-461: The 2013 election. On 19 June 2014, the Government announced that it had been six months since the last successful boat arrival. On 7 July 2014, a vessel containing 153 mostly Tamil asylum seekers from Sri Lanka was intercepted by Australian authorities 27 kilometres (15 nmi) from Christmas Island . The government refused to confirm the existence, location, or status of the boat, until

2376-433: The 2016 census, 75.2% of inhabitants spoke only English at home, with the next most common languages being Mandarin (1.9%), Italian (1.2%), Vietnamese (0.8%), Cantonese (0.8%) and Tagalog (0.6%). According to the 2021 census, Christianity is the major religious affiliation in WA, followed by 41.1% of its population. In 1971, Christianity was followed by 85.5% of the population and it has been declining since, while

2448-491: The Australian government was believed to have purchased eleven of the capsules from Singapore at a cost of around $ 500,000. In May 2014, Australia was alleged to have placed two persons who had arrived earlier in the year onto a boat with other asylum seekers which was turned back to Indonesia. In January 2015, Minister Dutton announced that 15 vessels, containing 429 asylum seekers in total, had been subject to turnback operations of some kind towards Indonesia or Sri Lanka since

2520-587: The Western Australian coast. The Baudin expedition of 1800–03 included the coast of Western Australia and resulted in the Freycinet Map of 1811 , the first published map featuring the full outline of Australia. The name New Holland remained in popular and semi-official use until at least the mid-1850s; that is, it was in use for about 206 years in comparison to the name Australia which to date has been in use for about 195 years. The origins of

2592-629: The Wikimedia System Administrators, please include the details below. Request from 172.68.168.133 via cp1102 cp1102, Varnish XID 571851324 Upstream caches: cp1102 int Error: 429, Too Many Requests at Thu, 28 Nov 2024 08:00:42 GMT Western Australia Western Australia (WA) is the westernmost state of Australia . It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to

2664-425: The beginning of OSB. In May 2015, Australian authorities allegedly paid Indonesian boat crew to return 65 asylum seekers to Indonesia. This and other turnbacks like it could be seen as tantamount to people smuggling against origin and transit countries. In July 2015, Labor Shadow Minister Richard Marles conceded that "Offshore processing and regional resettlement, together with the Coalition's policy of turn-backs,

2736-805: The coast around the Margaret River wine-growing area. Going east along the Southern Ocean coast is the Goldfields-Esperance region, including the Esperance mallee and the Coolgardie woodlands inland around town of Coolgardie . Deserts occupy the interior, including the Great Sandy-Tanami desert , Gibson Desert , Great Victoria Desert , and Nullarbor Plain . In 1831 Scottish botanist Robert Brown produced

2808-685: The coast of Western Australia. On 7 March 1831 it was transferred to the control of the Swan River Colony, and named Albany in 1832. In 1829 the Swan River Colony was established on the Swan River by Captain James Stirling . By 1832, the British settler population of the colony had reached around 1,500, and the official name of the colony was changed to Western Australia on 6 February that year. The two separate townsites of

2880-730: The coastal plains, in some cases forming a sharp escarpment (as with the Darling Range/ Darling Scarp near Perth). The extreme age of the landscape has meant that the soils are remarkably infertile and frequently laterised . Even soils derived from granitic bedrock contain an order of magnitude less available phosphorus and only half as much nitrogen as soils in comparable climates in other continents. Soils derived from extensive sandplains or ironstone are even less fertile, nearly devoid of soluble phosphate and deficient in zinc , copper, molybdenum and sometimes potassium and calcium . The infertility of most of

2952-425: The colony developed slowly into the port city of Fremantle and the state's capital, Perth . York was the first inland settlement in Western Australia, situated 97 kilometres (60 mi) east of Perth and settled on 16 September 1831. York was the staging point for early explorers who discovered the rich gold reserves of Kalgoorlie. Population growth was very slow until significant discoveries of gold were made in

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3024-494: The control of information by stating that the government was not "operating a shipping news service for people smugglers". On 22 January 2014, the ABC broadcast allegations that Royal Australian Navy personnel had mistreated asylum seekers during an OSB operation, including video footage of passengers receiving medical treatment in Indonesia for burns on their hands, which they claimed were sustained when they were forced to touch

3096-471: The creation of Nunavut. It is also the largest proper subnational entity, being a state rather than a territory or an autonomous region. Western Australia has a diverse range of climates, including tropical conditions in the Kimberley , deserts in the interior (including the Great Sandy Desert , Little Sandy Desert , Gibson Desert , and Great Victoria Desert ) and a Mediterranean climate on

3168-432: The development of the state's significant iron ore mining industry – the world's largest – as well as primarily offshore petroleum and natural gas resources . Gold mining retains a significant presence and many other mineral commodities are mined, with Perth being a major centre for associated services. Outside of mining, primary industry is the other significant contributor to the state's economy, including agriculture in

3240-569: The edge of the Wheatbelt region to 1,400 millimetres (55 in) in the wettest areas near Northcliffe , but from November to March, evaporation exceeds rainfall, and it is generally very dry. Plants are adapted to this as well as the extreme poverty of all soils. The central two-thirds of the state is arid and sparsely inhabited. The only significant economic activity is mining. Annual rainfall averages less than 300 millimetres (8–10 in), most of which occurs in sporadic torrential falls related to cyclone events in summer. An exception to this

3312-556: The election campaign, the Coalition announced a key component of Operation Sovereign Borders called the Regional Deterrence Framework. Budgeted at A$ 420 million, the RDF aimed to engage with other countries in the region, particularly Indonesia , to prevent asylum seeker vessels leaving for Australia. The framework included a $ 20 million proposal (titled "The Indonesian community engagement programme") which

3384-578: The exaggerated focus on boat arrivals being a danger to security and bringing illegal immigrants, when in fact the vast majority of illegal immigrants arrived by plane, with valid visas initially. The "Stop the boats" slogan and approach for Operation Sovereign Borders has become increasingly more popular in the United Kingdom over recent years due to the surge in illegal migrant numbers crossing via small boats. Lieutenant general (Australia) Too Many Requests If you report this error to

3456-611: The generally shallow soils, the only development has taken place along the Ord River . Snow is rare in the state and typically occurs only in the Stirling Range near Albany , as it is the only mountain range far enough south and sufficiently elevated. More rarely, snow can fall on the nearby Porongurup Range . Snow outside these areas is a major event; it usually occurs in hilly areas of southwestern Australia. The most widespread low-level snow occurred on 26 June 1956 when snow

3528-466: The greatest number of immigrants to this day. Western Australia—particularly Perth—has the highest proportion of British-born of any state: 10.3% in 2011, compared to a national average of 5.1%. This group is heavily concentrated in certain parts, where they account for a quarter of the population. Perth's metropolitan area (including Mandurah ) had an estimated population of 2,043,138 in June 2017 (79% of

3600-739: The group had refused to meet with Indian officials and were then transferred to the Nauru Regional Processing Centre . The government's response was to rush through Parliament the Migration and Maritime Powers Legislation Amendment (Resolving the Asylum Legacy Caseload) Bill 2014, which was passed by both Houses in December 2014, placing border policing ahead of asylum seeker rights as expressed in UN Convention. The number of arrivals given in OSB operational updates

3672-528: The incursions by deploying military assets to intercept people-smuggling boats. Several journalists and media outlets have expressed concern and frustration over the tightly controlled release of information about Operation Sovereign Borders, usually restricted to the weekly briefings held on Friday afternoons. In the weekly briefings, both Minister Morrison and Lieutenant General Campbell have refused to discuss "operational" or "on-water" matters in response to questions from journalists. The Minister has rationalised

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3744-431: The median individual income was A$ 500 per week in Western Australia (compared to A$ 466 in Australia as a whole). The median family income was A$ 1246 per week (compared to A$ 1171 for Australia). Recent growth has also contributed to significant rises in average property values in 2006, although values plateaued in 2007. Located south of Perth, the heavy industrial area of Kwinana had the nation's largest oil refinery with

3816-494: The meridian 129 degrees east of Greenwich, which defines the border with South Australia and the Northern Territory , and bounded by the Indian Ocean to the west and north. The International Hydrographic Organization (IHO) designates the body of water south of the continent as part of the Indian Ocean; in Australia it is officially gazetted as the Southern Ocean . The total length of the state's eastern border

3888-513: The north "over 50,000 years ago and possibly as much as 70,000 years ago". Over thousands of years they eventually spread across the whole landmass. These Indigenous Australians were long established throughout Western Australia by the time European explorers began to arrive in the early 17th century. The first Europeans to visit Western Australia were those of the Dutch Dirk Hartog expedition, who on 25 October 1616 landed at what

3960-538: The northern coast, and below that the drier Victoria Plains tropical savanna inland, and the semi-desert Pilbara shrublands , Carnarvon xeric shrublands , and Western Australian mulga shrublands to the southwest. Southwards along the coast are the Southwest Australia savanna and the Swan Coastal Plain around Perth, with the jarrah-karri forest and shrublands on the southwest corner of

4032-582: The only mountain-building since then has been of the Stirling Range with the rifting from Antarctica , the land is extremely eroded and ancient, with no part of the state above 1,249 metres (4,098 ft) AHD (at Mount Meharry in the Hamersley Range of the Pilbara region). Most of the state is a low plateau with an average elevation of about 400 metres (1,200 ft), very low relief, and no surface runoff . This descends relatively sharply to

4104-443: The percentage of people who identified as having no religious affiliation has increased from 8.7% in 1971 to 42.9% in 2021. A small minority of the population are Muslims (2.5%), Buddhists (2.2%) and Hindus (2.0%). Western Australia's economy is largely driven by extraction and processing of a diverse range of mineral and petroleum commodities. The structure of the economy is closely linked to these natural resources, providing

4176-515: The plan as "offensive", and officials from the Indonesian Navy said "forcing the boats back would also unfairly shift the burden of dealing with the asylum-seeker problem back on Indonesia". The policy also came under fire from refugee advocates. On 26 September 2013, Indonesian Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa took the "unusual step" of releasing details of his talks about the policy with his Australian counterpart Julie Bishop , which

4248-474: The present state began with the establishment by Lockyer of a convict-supported settlement from New South Wales at King George III Sound . The settlement was formally annexed on 21 January 1827 by Lockyer when he commanded the Union Jack be raised and a feu de joie fired by the troops. The settlement was founded in response to British concerns about the possibility of a French colony being established on

4320-550: The raising of a loan to construct a pipeline to transport 23 megalitres (5 million imperial gallons) of water per day to the burgeoning population on the goldfields. The pipeline, known as the Goldfields Water Supply Scheme , was completed in 1903.  C. Y.  O'Connor , Western Australia's first engineer-in-chief, designed and oversaw the construction of the pipeline. It carries water 530 km (330 mi) from Perth to Kalgoorlie , and

4392-401: The soils has required heavy application by farmers of fertilisers. These have resulted in damage to invertebrate and bacterial populations. The grazing and use of hoofed mammals and, later, heavy machinery through the years have resulted in compaction of soils and great damage to the fragile soils. Large-scale land clearing for agriculture has damaged habitats for native flora and fauna. As

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4464-516: The south, the Northern Territory to the north-east, and South Australia to the south-east. Western Australia is Australia’s largest state, with a land area of 2,527,013 square kilometres (975,685 sq mi), and is also the second-largest subdivision of any country on Earth, surpassed only by the Sakha Republic in eastern Russia, and formerly Northwest Territories in Canada, before

4536-533: The south-west and southern coastal areas. As of 2021, the state has 2.91 million inhabitants—11 percent of the national total. Over 90 percent of the state's population live in the south-west corner and around 80 percent live in the state capital Perth , leaving the remainder of the state sparsely populated. The Trans-Australian Railway and the Eyre Highway traverse the Nullarbor Plain in

4608-555: The state and national economy. In the period 2010–2019 wheat production in WA has averaged nearly 10 million tonnes (22 billion pounds), valued at $ 2.816   billion in 2019, accounting for half the nation's total and providing $ 2–3   billion in export income. Other significant farm output includes wool, beef, lamb, barley, canola, lupins, oats and pulses. There is a high level of overseas demand for live animals from WA, driven mainly by southeast Asia's feedlots and Middle Eastern countries, where Islamic dietary laws and

4680-431: The state's south-east, providing the principal connection between Western Australia and the population centres in the eastern states . Western Australia's Indigenous peoples have been present for tens of thousands of years. Dutch explorers visited Western Australia from the 17th century, with Dirk Hartog 's 1616 expedition the first Europeans to make landfall. The British claimed Western Australia in 1827 and established

4752-451: The state). Other significant population centres include Bunbury (73,989), Geraldton (37,961), Kalgoorlie-Boulder (30,420), Albany (33,998), Karratha (16,446), Broome (14,501) and Port Hedland (14,285). At the 2016 census, the most commonly nominated ancestries were: 3.1% of the population, or 75,978 people, identified as Indigenous Australians ( Aboriginal Australians and Torres Strait Islanders ) in 2016. At

4824-550: The time transportation ceased in 1868, convicts outnumbered free settlers 9,700 to 7,300. In the 1890s, interstate immigration, resulting from a mining boom in the Goldfields region , resulted in a sharp population increase. Western Australia did not receive significant flows of immigrants from Britain, Ireland or elsewhere in the British Empire until the early 20th century. At that time, its local projects—such as

4896-433: The video footage verifying the injuries but not how they had occurred. On 7 February, Yousif Ibrahim Fasher repeated the initial allegations, as well as several further claims of mistreatment and possible breaches of maritime law in an interview with a Fairfax correspondent. Immigration law specialists, academics and others have criticised the political over-use of border control in general to win votes, and in particular of

4968-540: Was later blamed on a clerical error. Australia has apologised for violating Indonesian waters during their "tow back" operations. These incursions occurred after Chief of the Defence Force David Hurley stripped naval personnel of workplace safety protections that would have required them to exercise "reasonable care" to protect their safety and that of the refugees. On 21 January 2014, Customs (now Australian Border Force) and Defence announced that

5040-653: Was reported in the Perth Hills , as far north as Wongan Hills and as far east as Salmon Gums . However, even in the Stirling Range, snowfalls rarely exceed 5 cm (2 in) and rarely settle for more than one day. The highest observed temperature of 50.7 °C (123.3 °F) was recorded in Onslow on 13 January 2022. The lowest temperature recorded was −7.2 °C (19.0 °F) at Eyre Bird Observatory on 17 August 2008. The south geomagnetic pole

5112-402: Was to include: The "buy-the-boats" plan was widely ridiculed, with fact-checking group PolitiFact Australia calling the proposal "ridiculous". Lieutenant General Campbell told a Senate Estimates committee that, two months into the OSB program, no boats had been purchased because Indonesia did not support the idea, although he stated that the measure remained available. The government runs

5184-604: Was valid from 2014 for up to 5 years. As of 2015, more than 400 people who had their refugee claims rejected had been returned home from the Australian-run detention centre in Papua New Guinea, some of which did so voluntarily. The Indonesian government has voiced concern over the operation due to its implications for Indonesia's national sovereignty . A member of the Golkar party, Tantowi Yahya , described

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