Tony Abbott declares Government has 'closed floodgates' on asylum seeker arrivals

Updated

Prime Minister Tony Abbott has declared that the Government has succeeded in closing the "floodgates" to asylum seeker arrivals.

Mr Abbott says the number of people arriving on boats has plunged to just 10 per cent of the number under the previous Labor government.

"Under the former government in July, arrivals were at the rate of 50,000 a year," he told a press conference in Melbourne.

"The trickle had become a flow; had become a flood.

"Well, I'm pleased to say that the floodgates are closed, the boats are stopping."

Mr Abbott said there was "still a long way to go" but he was confident the boats "will be stopped".

According to official numbers released at weekly briefings, 10 boats have arrived, carrying 544 asylum seekers, since the government's Operation Sovereign Borders came into effect in September.

There has been a marked fall in boat arrivals in recent weeks, but Labor is also claiming some of the credit lies with its offshore settlement policy, announced just weeks before the election.

The Government has also begun high-level talks with the Iranian government to return asylum seekers whose refugee claims have been rejected by Australia.

Iran currently refuses to accept involuntary returns but the government is negotiating to change that.

"I'm not going to comment on the details of discussions and which particular country we're talking about on which particular issue," Mr Abbott said.

"But you'll understand that we are talking to everyone that we need to talk to in order to ensure that the message goes out to the people smugglers and their customers that the game is up."

Foreign Affairs Minister Julie Bishop raised the issue with her Iranian counterpart in New York last month and plans to discuss it again in official talks tomorrow in Perth at the Ocean Rim Association for Regional Cooperation meeting.

The number of Iranian nationals arriving by boat has doubled, with more than 5,000 making the journey in the past year.

Earlier this year, former foreign affairs minister Bob Carr said the majority were "economic migrants".

Topics: federal-government, immigration, community-and-society, government-and-politics, australia, indonesia, iran-islamic-republic-of

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