Court demands forced U-turns for illegal immigrants

Western Australia's Premier Richard Court wants a tougher approach to the issue of illegal immigrants.

Mr Court says authorities should track down large boat loads of immigrants and turn them around before they reach Australian shores.

Immigration Minister Philip Ruddock says intelligence information shows large groups of people are gathering in Indonesia, preparing to make the journey to Australia.

He says efforts are underway to stop them before they leave.

But Mr Court says even if the boat people begin their journey to Australia, they should be stopped before they arrive.

"If it's true that there are a large number on a single boat, we should send an even larger boat, turn them around and put them back into the port where they come from," he said.

Mr Court says illegal immigrants take a punt that Australia's sense of fair play gives them a fifty-fifty chance of staying in the country.

He says it is a rort and Australia must toughen its approach to the issue.


Christmas Island

Meanwhile, the president of the Chamber of Commerce on Christmas Island, Philip Oakley, says there is no way the island can cope with another large influx of boat people.

In the past few months, Christmas Island has been a popular destination for boat people attempting to enter Australia.

Mr Oakley says catering for 1,000 boat people, which could be heading for Australia in one group, is way beyond the island's resources.

"If we were to get anything like 1,000 people on this island at once we would have a major logistical problem," he said.

"In the past we've had up to about 300 illegal immigrants at any one point in time and that stretches resources to the absolute maximum."

© 2000 Australian Broadcasting Corporation