Parliamentary Inquiry into Christmas Island tragedy
The government will move to set up the inquiry into the disaster when Parliament resumes. An internal customs review has found officials acted appropriately and the agency did not have any intelligence about the boat before it smashed into rocks, killing up to 50 asylum seekers.
But the opposition's immigration spokesman Scott Morrison says a full policy review is needed. "Like with any matter such as this, I think we need to keep an open book on what needs to be done," he said. "There'll be the coroner's inquiry and other inquiries that look specifically into the matters of that specific period but the more broader policy questions are the ones the government needs to take up.
Christmas Island's emergency management committee says the early detection of boats is the key to avoiding a repeat of last month's asylum seeker tragedy. The government announced yesterday it had accepted all eight recommendations from the customs review, including the installation of a new surveillance system.
Christmas Island administrator and chairman of the local emergency management committee Brian Lacy says the radar system will be crucial to preventing another tragedy. "I don't think you could prevent an incident of that type in the absence of earlier detection," he said. The committee is in the process of compiling a list for the government of extra resources it needs to deal with a similar incident.
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