Boats turned around likely to be kept secret Boats secrecy slammed Immigration Minister Scott Morrison says his new weekly briefings on border security will deprive people smugglers of 'shipping news', but his critics say he's hiding the problem. PT1M22S http://www.smh.com.au/action/externalEmbeddedPlayer?id=d-2u9ws 620 349 September 23, 2013 - 5:30PM The public might never be told whether the Coalition is meeting a key election promise in having the navy turn back asylum seeker boats, Immigration Minister Scott Morrison has said. Unveiling the first steps in the new government's tough policy, Mr Morrison made it clear there would be tight restrictions on information under the military-led Operation Sovereign Borders. He also flagged a dramatic acceleration in transferring asylum-seekers off Australian territory at Christmas Island to offshore detention on Manus Island or Nauru, prompting refugee advocate claims that people would not be given proper health checks. "We are not getting into the tactical discussion of things that happen at sea": Immigration Minister Scott Morrison. Addressing the media for the first time with Lieutenant-General Angus Campbell, Mr Morrison said he would not go into tactical or operational details in his planned weekly briefings, including whether a boat had been turned back. "We are not getting into the tactical discussion of things that happen at sea ... This is an open briefing process but there are obvious limitations to what can be discussed," he said. Turning back boats was a key Coalition election promise. The aim is to deter further arrivals, which may not work if turn-backs are not actually announced. Mr Morrison and General Campbell would not go into detail about how the decision would actually be made to turn a boat around. Acting Labor leader Chris Bowen said refusing to reveal when attempts were made to turn back boats would be "completely unacceptable to the Australian people." The Coalition plans to reveal boat arrivals only once a week, rather than more regularly, as under Labor. Christmas Island administrator Jon Stanhope told the ABC he would have to consider his position if he was gagged. Christmas Island councillor Gordon Thomson said the clampdown would encourage islanders to speak about arrivals. "There is a lot more energy about it now that the government has said we are going to shut you up," he said. It's had the equal and opposite reaction. Mr Morrison said the new target for the transfer of asylum seekers to Manus Island or Nauru would be 48 hours, down from the two weeks Labor said were needed for health checks and processing. He said there would be still be "basic health checks" and he was consulting with the host nations. The office of Papua New Guinea Foreign Minister Rimbink Pato said he was overseas and could not comment. Mr Morrison said Nauru's Foreign Minister David Adeang would be in Canberra on Tuesday for talks. Refugee advocate Pamela Curr said such a fast turnaround was "very risky." "Already, we've seen many people have had to be transferred back from Manus and Nauru on health grounds because neither of those places have been able provide the medical care," she said.