Mr Brenton Holmes
The Secretary
Senate Select Committee on a Certain Maritime Incident
Suite 1.57
Parliament House
CANBERRA ACT 2600

[date stamped: 'Received 21 June 2002']

Dear Mr Holmes

I refer to my letter of 6 June 2002 enclosing the notes of the People Smuggling Taskforce (PST) meetings between 27 August and 9 November 2001.

The letter stated that the notes were internal PM&C documents which were not circulated to to other agencies on the PST and therefore contain minor inaccuracies that would otherwise have been corrected. The letter specifically advises that the reference to SIEV 8 in the notes of 22 October 2001 is incorrect, noting that SIEV 8 arrived on 28 October 2001 off Bathurst Island carrying 31 Vietnamese unauthorised arrivals. To further clarify, the SIEV referred to at that point in the notes is the vessel now known as SIEV X.

It would be helpful if you could ensure that when providing copies of the notes to other parties, you advise them that there are some minor inaccuracies and in particular alert them to the fact that the reference to SIEV 8 in the 22 October 2001 notes in fact refers to the vessel which as [sic] since become known as SIEV X.

Yours sincerely

Jeff Whalan
Executive Coordinator
Social Policy Group
21 June 2002