Eight suspected illegal boat arrivals have been discovered by workers in the Northern Territory.
Reports suggest the workers first found a group of six Chinese nationals near the remote Indigenous Arnhem Land township of Maningrida on May 27.
A further two suspected Chinese nationals were found by Indigenous rangers on May 28, and were then taken into custody by the Australian Border Force.
The Maningrida community sits 500 kilometres east of the capital Darwin, sitting alongside Australia’s upper coastline.
Authorities so far have not found any boats used by the eight individuals, according to ABC.
The Australian Border Force remained tight-lipped on the incident.
“The Australian Border Force does not comment on or confirm operational matters,” a spokesperson told The Epoch Times.
The Australian Department of Home Affairs was also contacted for comment.
Shadow Home Affairs spokesman Andrew Hastie told media that if the incident is confirmed, it proves the Albanese Labor government has underinvested in defence and border security.
“We should have unblinking surveillance on our northern approaches, but instead we have illegal boats penetrating our borders and people making it ashore,” he said.
“This signals weakness to the people smugglers that business is back on under Labor.”
It is not currently known where the Chinese nationals are being held or what action is being taken.
