Government to release new evidence at last

Welcome to the web site that is dedicated to finding the truth about the Australian Government's role in the drowning of hundreds of people in October 2001.

This web site is a resource for everyone who is interested in the SIEVX Affair. It links to relevant testimony to the Senate Inquiry and to key media coverage of this affair. It is updated daily.

In the latest developments:
The Minister for Defence, Senator Hill has finally released key information about the Australian Navy's surveillance of the waters in which SIEVX sank. His choice of a letter to the editor as a vehicle for releasing this vital information is curious and he has been taken to task for this by Tony Kevin, the champion of the movement to question the Government on its role in this tragedy.

Today the Australian and the Age newspapers carried reports that next week the Government will present to the Senate Inquiry detailed information on its surveillance activities:

In dramatic evidence to be presented to a Senate committee next week, the navy has revealed full details of its surveillance of the waters off Indonesia where Siev X sank on October 19 last year. The Government hopes the evidence will debunk claims the navy turned a blind eye to the fate of the overloaded Siev X after it embarked for Christmas Island.

It shows - contrary to earlier Senate testimony - that the navy sent P3 patrols across the stretch of ocean known as Charlie Northwest, where Siev X probably sank. These flights, on October 19 and 20, were routine patrols and were not sent to the area specifically to look for Siev X. They show that on the morning of October 19, the day Siev X sank, a P3 flew in arcs as close as 24 nautical miles to the coast of Java.

The flight detected 30 vessels in international waters - eight merchant ships and 22 fishing vessels - but not Siev X.

The overloaded boat sank five hours later, raising the tragic possibility it entered the Australian-monitored zone after the P3 had left the area.

The next morning - with survivors still clinging to the wreckage - another P3 flight passed through the area but was unaware of the tragedy and did not spot any debris or survivors.

The Government seems to believe that this evidence will put the issues to rest. We anticipate that it will serve to raise even more burning questions:
Why has it taken the Government so long to release this evidence? Why have there been so many different versions of what Defence knew and what they did?