THE army general leading Australia's border security crackdown is confident authorities did not commit a people-smuggling offence when turning an asylum seeker boat back to Indonesia this month.
Indonesian navy officers have claimed Australian authorities added three people to an asylum seeker boat before sending it back to their country.
The Australian Federal Police are considering a request to investigate the matter, which legal experts say might constitute a people-smuggling offence under Australian law.
But Lieutenant-General Angus Campbell maintains the boat turn-backs being carried out are consistent with international obligations and domestic law.
"I am confident ... we have taken lawful procedures to conduct operations," the Operation Sovereign Borders commander told an Australian Strategic Policy Institute dinner in Canberra on Thursday.
The federal government has declined to comment on the incident, citing "operational issues".
No people-smuggling ventures to Australia have been successful since late December, but Lt Gen Campbell warned that although the way to Australia was closed, it was not a case of mission accomplished.
"To modify a well-known and very apt phrase, the price of border security is eternal vigilance," he said.
Threats to Australia's border security remain as asylum seekers bide their time in Indonesia, holding out for changes to policy or operations, he said.
He expressed doubt about whether authorities could have reduced arrivals without the turn-back policy.
"There are too many prospective travellers susceptible to believing that Nauru is a town in Australia," Lt Gen Campbell said.
He said desperate smugglers were offering discounted rates and free travel for children.
Lt Gen Campbell said his team was proud to be preventing asylum seekers drowning during dangerous voyages.
Tuesday's budget allocated $480.5 million to establish a new super front-line agency, Border Force Australia, from July 2015, which will absorb Operation Sovereign Borders.
The new agency will replace customs and take on some functions of the immigration department. A commissioner will be appointed to lead the force.
"I look with interest to whoever might be appointed while I'm pursuing other pathways in my life," he said.
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