The Australian prime minister, Julia Gillard, made the announcement as another boat, this time with 67 people on board, was reported missing. The vessel left Indonesia more than a month ago and may have sunk.

The boat is the latest to attempt the dangerous crossing to Australian territory. Reported missing on Tuesday, it left Indonesia in late June or early July but has not been detected since, Home Affairs Minister Jason Clare told Australian television.

"There is no evidence that those people have arrived in Australia," Clare said, adding Australia held "very great fears" for those missing.

More than 7,000 asylum seekers have reached the Australian Indian Ocean territory of Christmas Island in a hundred boats so far this year. Many of the asylum seekers are seeking refuge from war-torn countries including Afghanistan, Iraq and Sri Lanka.

Panel recommendations

Six weeks ago two boats capsized between Indonesia and Australia in the space of a week. More than 90 asylum seekers are believed to have drowned.

Prime Minister Julia Gillard then commissioned a panel headed by former Australian Defence Force Chief Angus Houston to draw up a report with recommendations.

The report aims to curb boat arrivals by removing any advantages that asylum seekers might gain in their refugee claims by reaching Australia.

The panel recommends the Nauru and Papua New Guinea centres be quickly re-established. Houston said asylum seekers should spend less than five years in the Australian-commissioned camps.

On Monday, Gillard accepted the panel's recommendations to reopen camps which were established a decade ago by a conservative administration. Legislation to enable the deportation of asylum seekers will be introduced to Parliament.

Human rights group Amnesty International described the report's recommendations as a major setback for Australian refugee policy.

jm/crh (Reuters, AP)