Police are questioning a group of men in a remote part of Western Australia, believed to have arrived in Australia by boat.
A witness who asked not to be identified told SBS News a group of about 30 men, who said they had come from Pakistan, were speaking to police in Beagle Bay, about 100 km north of Broome.
A Beagle Bay resident has told SBS the men were first spotted by locals near Middle Lagoon, about 30 kilometres away from the Beagle Bay township. Witnesses did not see a boat in the immediate area.
They arrived at the community store and paid cash for water.
In a statement, Border Force confirmed it was "undertaking an operation in the north west of Western Australia."
"As this operation is ongoing, no further information will be provided," a spokesperson said.
"Australia's tough border protection policies means no one who travels unauthorised by boat will ever be allowed to settle permanently in Australia. The only way to travel to Australia is legally, with an Australian visa."
During a press conference on Friday afternoon, the Prime Minister was asked about the alleged boat arrival, which would be the eleventh people smuggling venture to reach Australia since the Albanese government was elected in May 2022.
“I've been travelling in the car so I haven’t been advised about that,” he told reporters.
“But our policies are very, very clear, which is that boats that arrive in that fashion, we have policies in place to ensure that they're dealt with.”
Labor maintains a policy of offshore detention for unauthorised boat arrivals.
Opposition Leader Peter Dutton described the reports as "disturbing".
"Clearly the settings of the government have in place are not sufficient," he told reporters in Adelaide.
"The Prime Minister's phone works in the car, he should have taken the call, he should have called his minister in return to ask what is going on.
"Minister [Clare] O'Neil needs to stand up today to provide an explanation to the Australian public about what is going on and how this government has lost control of our borders."
Last November, 12 Pakistani asylum seekers arrived on a remote stretch of WA’s coastline, in the Kimberley region.
It is believed they had travelled by boat from Indonesia. They were taken to Nauru by the Australian Border Force.
