Foreign nationals deported after reaching Far North Queensland by boat

Campers saw an Australian Border Force helicopter land at Pennefather Beach, where the boat allegedly landed. (Supplied: Dan Tonon) A group of foreign nationals who reached Cape York illegally by boat this week has been removed from Australia, the federal government says. It won't reveal how many people were on board, nor which country they are from. A 34-year-old Taiwanese man charged over the alleged plot is due to face court in Cairns today. Link copiedShareShare articleThe federal government says a group of foreign nationals has been removed from Australia after reaching Far North Queensland illegally by boat this week. The group came ashore from a boat onto a beach at Pennefather River, a popular camping spot about 50 kilometres north of Weipa, in the early hours of Tuesday morning. The Australian Federal Police (AFP) said a 34-year-old man was arrested in a Weipa supermarket car park later in the day. That man, a Taiwanese national, is due to appear in court in Cairns today, charged with one count of aggravated offence of people smuggling, which carries a maximum penalty of 20 years' imprisonment. CCTV footage shows two men ordering from Weipa bakery. (Supplied: Weipa bakery) It's not been confirmed how many people reached the mainland but the charge relates to an alleged offence involving at least five people. The AFP said another man, 30, was also spoken to and detained under the Migration Act pending further inquiries. Weipa is one of the largest centres on Cape York Peninsula. About 4,000 people live in the bauxite mining town about 800km north-west of Cairns. In a statement, Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke said "the operation in Weipa has now concluded". "Every person who attempted to enter Australia without a visa has now been removed," Mr Burke said. "Those who assisted them will face the full force of the law. "It remains the case that no people smuggling venture has been successful for more than a decade." Federal Labor MP Matt Smith, whose seat of Leichhardt covers all of Cape York Peninsula and the Torres Strait, said the boat occupants were "in detention for processing". However, he said he was not able to reveal where the boat occupants originated from. "The message we need to send to people who try to trade in this abhorrent model of business is you are not welcome in Australian sovereign waters," he said. "Whatever happens next after you try to get here, you will not enjoy. "We need to make it very clear to these people that this is not on and we will find you, and get you," he said. A 34-year old Taiwanese national is expected to appear in the Cairns Magistrates Court today on a people smuggling charge. (ABC News: Mark Rigby) A Border Force operation was mounted earlier this year in response to an influx of illegal foreign fishing boats entering Far North Queensland waters. Mr Smith said that operation focused heavily on the Torres Strait and he had spoken to Mr Burke about that operation expanding to the waters surrounding Cape York Peninsula and the Gulf of Carpentaria. The Queensland government and federal opposition have criticised the federal government's resourcing of border protection, raising concerns the alleged illegal arrivals could have gone undetected had a group of people not been camping at Pennefather River for the school holidays. Mr Smith said "public information is always going to be part of our border security processes". "It's just not feasible to have a boat every 20 to 30 kilometres along the entire coastline," Mr Smith said. "The best form of surveillance often is civilians, for lack of a better term, who are out there going about their daily business able to call in to Border Force." The group allegedly came ashore from a boat at Pennefather Beach in the early hours of yesterday Tuesday morning. Queensland Police Minister Dan Purdie said the involvement of Queensland Police was limited to arresting those who came to shore illegally. "The Queensland Police support of the operation was to help detain those people and we did that," he said. He was highly critical of the Federal Government for not acting on the warnings of the state MP for Cook, David Kempton, who Mr Purdie said had been warning the northern border was "porous" for some time. He said this was evidenced by the alleged arrival of illegal fishing boats in recent months. "There's biosecurity risks with these people coming ashore, there's all sorts of risks," Mr Purdie said. "I would've thought a successful (ABF) operation looked like intercepting a boat before they rocked up into town." Copy linkFacebookX (formerly Twitter)See more ABC coverage in your search results Top StoriesAustralians caught between homelessness and the lawTopic:Homelessness

Foreign nationals deported after reaching Far North Queensland by boat

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