2010-08-10 11:49

CANBERRA - A boat believed to be carrying asylum seekers was intercepted by the Royal Australian Navy north-east of Christmas Island on Tuesday.

"Initial indications suggest there are 57 passengers and two crew on board," Home Affairs Minister Brendan O'Connor said in a statement.

The group will be transferred to Christmas Island for security, identity and health checks and their motive will be established, he said.

The latest arrival came as the Opposition reaffirmed that it was ready and able to open an Australian-funded refugees detention center in Nauru.

Coalition immigration spokesman Scott Morrison has returned from a brief visit to Nauru where he met the country's leaders.

"Within weeks of an agreement actually formally being executed with the Nauruan Government we would be able to accept people in that center," Morrison told a press conference in Sydney on Tuesday.