Hopes fading for boat survivors

Hopes of finding more survivors are fading following the sinking of a suspected
asylum seeker boat, northwest of the Cocos Islands.
At least one person has died while another 11 remain missing, feared drowned, after
a boat carrying 39 suspected asylum seekers, believed to be Sri Lankans, sank 350
nautical miles northwest of the Cocos Islands on Sunday.
The 27 survivors have been taken aboard the commercial ship, the LNG Pioneer, which
was one of the first on the scene during the search and rescue operation. They are
expected to be taken to Christmas Island for processing.
A Taiwanese fishing trawler on Tuesday departed the area and was replaced by a
Japanese vessel, which joined seven aircraft in the search.
Amid clear signs the electorate is losing faith in Mr Rudd's handling of the asylum
seeker issue, Opposition Leader Malcolm Turnbull said he would put in place policies
that would stop people smugglers heading to Australia.
"Every Australian government's policy should be to secure our borders and ensure
that people smuggling does not occur and there are no, or as few as possible,
unauthorised maritime arrivals of asylum seekers," Mr Turnbull said.
"Under a Turnbull government we would put in place measures that would over time
stop the people smugglers."
Liberal frontbencher Tony Abbott linked Mr Rudd's border protection policies to the
sinking of the boat, saying they "encourage people to take to the sea in leaky boats
and give us the kind of tragedy that seems to be unfolding now in the Indian Ocean".
"... you look at this terrible tragedy that's unfolding in the Indian Ocean at the
moment, and you've got to say this is a comprehensive failure and it's all the prime
minister's fault."
Mr Abbott later moved to clarify the remarks, saying he did not blame Mr Rudd for
the tragedy.
"He's responsible for policy and if the policy doesn't stop boats from coming,
tragedies inevitably are likely to happen from time to time. But they're not the
direct fault of the prime minister," he said.
Opposition immigration spokeswoman Sharman Stone warned more lives would be put at
risk by the Rudd government's border protection policies.
"We now have an even bigger problem than there was before in terms of safety and the
tragedy that is likely to ensue," Dr Stone said.
"This is a deadly business, there's no doubt about it.
"If you just keep providing more and more safe landings in terms of Christmas Island
but don't address the pull factors at all ... then you're going to see these
terrible tragedies just keep happening."
The comments follow the latest Newspoll, which shows the electorate is losing faith
in Mr Rudd's handling of the asylum seeker issue.
The poll, conducted at the weekend and published on Tuesday, shows support for Labor
has fallen seven percentage points to 52 per cent on a two-party preferred basis.
Mr Rudd slipped by two points to 63 per cent in terms of preferred prime minister.
But the prime minister has refused to back away from his policy stance, maintaining
it's hardline but humane.
"What the government is doing is ensuring that it implements its tough, responsible
but fair policy, the one that we took to the people prior to the last election, and
it's the one which serves Australia's long-term interests," Mr Rudd told ABC Radio.
"It's tough and hardline on people smugglers, its humane on asylum seekers, that is
a responsible policy in the national interest."
In Indonesia, the stand-off between authorities and 78 asylum seekers aboard the
Australian Customs vessel, the Oceanic Viking, is showing no signs of being
resolved.
The group of Tamils is refusing to disembark the vessel, which has been anchored off
the coast of Bintan Island for more than two weeks, waiting to transfer the asylum
seekers to the Tanjung Pinang detention centre.