Residents’ fears after a boatload of Chinese men arrived in north-west Western Australia and walked into an airbase undetected

Residents along WA’s northern coastline have expressed concern that a boatload of Chinese could walk ashore at an air base long before they were discovered by authorities.

The boat carrying 15 Chinese nationals landed at the remote Mungalalu Truscott airbase earlier in April, and it took days for an Australian Defense Force operation to track them all down.

It was the fourth human smuggling boat to arrive in the area since November last year, despite the government patrolling the area with unmanned drones launched from the same airbase where the illegal immigrants had strayed.

Madeline Gallagher-Dann, the chief executive of the largely Indigenous community of Kalumburu, said she was concerned about the possibility of more undetected arrivals.

“It’s quite frightening to think that they came this far and landed not far from us,” she told the station ABC’s 7:30.

‘(Border protection) can be much better, because we are open and vulnerable here.

“Imagine walking on the beach and meeting those guys. Not only that, their health could also be a problem, they could harbor viruses or diseases that could affect the people here.”

A group of about fifteen asylum seekers arrived by boat to a remote (pictured) part of Western Australia. Since November last year, four illegal boats have landed unnoticed

Unmanned drones have been patrolling the coastline since December in support of Operation Sovereign Borders, after another boat full of illegal immigrants from Pakistan reached the coast a month earlier.

But Exmouth Council Shire chairman Matthew Nikkula said the drone surveillance was an inadequate response and a permanent presence was needed to monitor Australia’s north-west coast.

‘How on earth did this happen? Is our coast so lightly defended?’ he said.

Exmouth Council leader Matthew Nikkula said WA’s north-west coast was vulnerable and needed better security

“If any boat can arrive and people can walk into an air base, what else is happening up north?”

He is chairman of the North West Defense Alliance = made up of seven councils along WA’s north-west coast – which says residents are at risk of biosecurity breaches, drug drops and possible attacks on export infrastructure in the Pilbara.

“Yes, four boats have been detected in the last six months, but that just begs the question of how many are passing through and how easy is it to land on shore?” said Mr Nikkula.

“We need to see significant assets and infrastructure here and a lot more presence.”

Defense Force personnel were deployed to the area after the Chinese nationals reached the coast and more than 24 hours later a charter plane flew from Truscott Airbase to Perth with some asylum seekers on board.

But at least one member of the group went missing and was not traced until much later.

A charter plane reportedly flew from Mungalalu Truscott Airbase (pictured) to Perth carrying some asylum seekers, but one man went missing and was not found until days later

Drones launched from Truscott Airbase have been patrolling the coastline since November (pictured), but the illegal arrivals were still able to enter the airbase unnoticed

Indigenous elder Les French said Indonesian boats regularly fish illegally around Niiwalarra Island and can often see boat lights and campfires in the distance.

Several years ago, he encountered a group of Indonesian men who had turned up on the coast and kept an eye on them, armed with a shotgun, until authorities arrived hours later.

His grandson, Lancho Davey, who runs a tourism company that takes visitors to Hidden Bay, a short distance from Truscott, said he regularly finds piles of rubbish with Indonesian wrappers left behind by the groups.

The couple said it is not only locals who are at risk, but also immigrants, as they are often piled unprepared onto rickety boats by people smugglers, and when they are dumped on land there is no food and water and crocodiles lurk in the mangroves.

The Australian Border Force said it has sufficient resources in the area.

“The ABF does not go into details about capability assessments and requirements, other than to say that we are adequately resourced and prepared to address… maritime security threats.”

This week, the Maritime Border Command, a multi-agency task force drawing on the resources of the Australian Border Force and Australian Defense Force, said it had stopped three illegal fishing boats in the region last month.

An illegal Indonesian fishing vessel is stopped by Australian authorities off the coast of Kimberley in March (photo)

Working with the Australian Fisheries Management Authority, it said this was the case intercepted two of the vessels in the Kimberley Marine Park and the other in the Rowley Shoals Marine Park.

The task force seized fishing equipment, 100 kilos of salt used to preserve the fish, and 20 kilos of sea cucumber, known as trepang in Indonesia.

The boats were shipped with the crew of every ship transported to Darwin.

Fifteen crew members were charged with breaches of the Fisheries Management Act and pleaded guilty in Darwin Local Court on April 11.

Authorities said a series of financial penalties totaling $31,300 were imposed.