AAP
An asylum seeker boat carrying 50 passengers and four crew has been intercepted off Ashmore Islands, northwest of Australia.
The boat was intercepted on Sunday afternoon by HMAS Childers after it was spotted by a surveillance aircraft operating under the control of the Border Protection Command.
The vessel is the 35th asylum seeker boat to arrive this year.
It follows the arrival of a boat carrying 79 passengers and four crew that was intercepted on Friday.
"Initial indications suggest there are 50 passengers and four crew on board the vessel," federal Home Affairs Minister Brendan O'Connor said in a statement on Sunday.
The group will be transferred to Christmas Island where they will undergo security, identity and health checks as well as establish their reasons for travel, Mr O'Connor said.
Meanwhile, the head of Australia's peak welfare group has urged politicians not to sensationalise the debate on asylum seekers.
With Australia's offshore processing facility on Christmas Island at breaking point, the federal government is under pressure to solve the asylum seeker crisis.
Australian Council of Social Service chief executive Clare Martin warned the debate was becoming "potentially alarming" and "divisive".
"We have to recognise the reality - we do have asylum seekers," she told Network Ten on Sunday.
"I think it is very important for our political leaders to keep the debate at a reasonable level, not to be emotive".
Ms Martin called on Labor to manage the flow of asylum seekers to Australia in an effective and humane way.
The Sydney Morning Herald
