War of words over Geraldton arrivals as Cycloen Victoria stops flights Officials, possibly Customs or AQIS inspectors, on board a Sri Lankan asylum seeker boat n Geraldton Harbour today. Picture: Graeme Gibbons Source: PerthNow FEDERAL Immigration Minister accuses WA Premier of whipping up hysteria over the shock arrival of an asylum seeker boat in Geraldton yesterday. Premier Colin Barnett described the arrival of 66 Sri Lankan asylum seekers aboard a rickety fishing vessel at one of Australia's busiest regional ports yesterday as ``shocking" and signalled an alarming breach of national security. Meanwhile a Category Three cyclone off the WA coast will force the Sri Lankan asylum seekers to spend another night on the mainland, as the storm prevents flights to Christmas Island. The single males among the group have now been sent to Northam's Yongah Hill detention centre, about 90km east of Perth, according to a spokesman for the Department of Immigration. Families, women and children are being housed in lower security ``A-pods" - Alternate Places of Detention - in Perth. They will all be sent to Christmas Island for processing but a category three cyclone intensifying in the Indian Ocean off WA's North-West means it is too dangerous for a charter plane to reach the island today. And it may be several days more before the weather improves, with Tropical Cyclone Victoria, which is just 400km south-west of Christmas Island, expected to continue to gather strength. ``It won't be today because there are unfavourable weather conditions and it's been decided an air charter wouldn't be prudent in those circumstances, but we will move them to Christmas Island as soon as possible," an Immigration spokesman said. ``We can't see how we could get them there with the weather being the way it is. The spokesman said the A-pods are ``still part of our secure detention facility network but they're not quite as high security as Yongah Hills. Barnett's words not helpful - O'Connor Federal minister, Brendan O'Connor, who was in WA last week to visit the remote Curtin Detention centre, said the premier's words were not helpful - and not true. ``It is not unprecedented; there were 11 boats that arrived in WA during the Howard years alone," Mr O'Connor told Fairfax radio. ``The premier is wrong in his language. ``This is rare and it won't happen often, and I think it is unfair and unreasonable for the premier to describe it (that way). A map showing Geraldton harbour and the arrival of a Sri Lankan boat carrying 66 suspected asylum seekers.