Response wasn’t delayed: Morrison

The federal govt has expressed its sympathies to the victims of an asylum seeker boat sinking off Indonesia.

IMMIGRATION Minister Scott Morrison rejects claims the Australian government delayed its response to distress calls from an asylum seeker boat that sank off Indonesia, leaving scores of people dead or missing.

"The government completely rejects allegations of a 26-hour delay in response to this tragic incident by Australian agencies," Mr Morrison's office said in a statement issued today.

"Suggestions Australian authorities did not respond to this incident appropriately are absolutely and totally wrong.

"Australian agencies acted on the information provided on this tragic incident."

One survivor told ABC TV that a GPS location was sent to Australian authorities when multiple distress calls were made on Thursday.

"We called the Australian government for 24 hours. They were telling us 'we're coming, we're coming, we're coming', and they didn't come," he said.

Labor says the coalition must provide a full briefing of the latest asylum seeker tragedy off Indonesia.

"This is because of the Australian government. I want them to know that," he said of the tragedy.

Mr Morrison said initial searches failed to find the boat, which was reported to be about 25 nautical miles off the Indonesian coast.

"The Australians who work for our rescue and border protection agencies respond to all such events with great professionalism and a keenly felt sense of duty, as they did on this occasion," the statement said.

Rough seas off Java today continue to hamper rescue efforts and Indonesian authorities were expecting more bodies to wash up on shore, the ABC reported.

An asylum-seeker rescued by Australian navy boards an Indonesian search and rescue boat in the waters off western Java. AFP PHOTO

Aussie cousin got call from boat

Meanwhile, horrific details of the tragedy have emerged with the Melbourne cousin of a family on board the doomed vessel revealing they feared they were in trouble when the boat was turned back to Indonesia.

The man received a phone call from the boat on Friday — and now Melbourne's Lebanese community is in mourning after the drowning of at least 21 people, mostly children, while many are still missing.

The Lebanese foreign ministry says at least 29 Lebanese asylum seekers are missing while Indonesian police say 28 people were plucked from the water but around 30 people are still missing after the boat sank off Java on Friday.

Local authorities say it's believed the boat was carrying about 80 passengers.

However the Lebanese foreign ministry says there were 68 Lebanese people on board the boat and only 18 of those survived the ordeal.

Dr Michael Kheirallah, the chairman of the Victorian Lebanese Community Council, said Melbourne man Abdulah Abdulah last heard from his cousin on-board when it was turned back to Indonesia, because "something was wrong with the boat".

Dr Kheirallah said there were other Lebanese families in Melbourne who had relatives on the boat and most were in limbo waiting to hear if their loved ones were among those who had survived.

"They're very stressed and the whole community here in Melbourne are getting together to mourn the deaths of the people who perished in the sea," Dr Kheirallah said.

"They're very depressed and very stressed."

An Australian naval personnel holds documents beside Indonesian search and rescue personnel after the transfer of rescued asylum seekers in the waters off western Java. AFP PHOTO Source: AFP

At least 18 of the victims were Lebanese, including 13 members from two families, Lebanon's National News Agency reported.

NNA said Hussein Khodr survived but his wife Kawsar and the couple's eight children perished, while Asaad Ali Asaad was also rescued but lost his wife Reyya and their three children.

A Lebanese official said Mr Khodr had called people in his home village "and told them that the boat sank at dawn, when waves destabilised the vessel", AFP reported.

Sources have confirmed Australian Customs vessel RV Triton was at the scene helping Indonesian authorities.

Navy frigate HMAS Parramatta was also involved in another incident on Friday, rescuing 55 people on a stricken boat in international waters and returning them to Indonesia.

Abbott due in Jakarata on Monday

The Australian Greens are calling for an immediate inquiry into the "heartbreaking" boat tragedy.

"We certainly will be wanting an inquiry into what has happened with the most recent tragedy, in terms of what the Australian authorities knew and what they did or didn't do," Australian Greens Leader Christine Milne told Sky News today.

"I would expect that to happen before the next parliament sits."

The government has remained tight-lipped on the boat tragedy ahead of Prime Minister Tony Abbott's crucial meeting with Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono in Jakarta on Monday.

The first deaths at sea since the election threaten to further disrupt the talks between the leaders which Mr Abbott had hoped would not focus on his new government's asylum seeker policy.

It comes after a week in which Foreign Affairs Minister Julie Bishop's private meeting with her Indonesian counterpart was released to the media.

A member of the Australian navy assists rescued asylum-seekers as they transfer to an Indonesian search and rescue boat in the waters off western Java. AFP PHOTO Source: AFP

After the PM dodged questions about the incident, Mr Morrison finally responded to questions over an asylum seeker boat.

Mr Morrison said Australian authorities were initially in charge of the search for the asylum seeker vessel after receiving a phone call about the incident Friday morning.

Initial reports placed the vessel 25 nautical miles off the Indonesian coast, inside the Indonesian search and rescue region, but a Border Protection Command aircraft and a merchant vessel responding to an all ships broadcast were unable to find it.

Residents help a group of asylum-seeker survivor on the beach after being rescued by locals in the coastal village of Cianjur located in Indonesia's western Java island. 21 people, mostly children, drowned and scores are missing. AFP PHOTO Source: AFP

The search and rescue operation is now being handled by Indonesian authorities, Mr Morrison said.

"Australian Government officials in Jakarta are seeking additional information from their Indonesian counterparts, including seeking to confirm where the vessel foundered. It is believed to have gone down in Indonesian territory."

He said Australian authorities would continue to provide whatever help was required by the Indonesian government but could not say what assistance was currently being offered.

Acting Labor leader Chris Bowen called on the government to reveal what role Australian authorities had played in the incident.

At least 22 people have drowned and many are still missing after an asylum seeker boat sank off Indonesia.

"The government has previously said that when there was a tragedy or a significant event at sea, then they would provide briefings," he said.

"This can't wait for Mr Morrison's weekly briefing. These updates should be provided as and when the government can."

Associate Professor Greg Fealy, an Indonesia expert at the Australian National University, said the boat tragedy would "make things more difficult" for Mr Abbott's meeting with the Indonesian president.

A group of asylum-seeker survivors rest on the beach after rescued by residents in the coastal village of Cianjur located in Indonesia's western Java island on September 27, 2013. AFP PHOTO Source: AFP

"I suspect Tony Abbott is going to be very gentle in the way he's going to put things," Prof Fealy said.

"If they're too blunt or undiplomatic in their language, too assertive, they could well find there are more boats coming rather than less."

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