An Australian court has adjourned a hearing into whether Australia acted illegally in barring entry to hundreds of mostly Afghan refugees who have been stranded on a Norwegian container ship for over a week.
The adjournment, until Monday, comes as the government plans to move the 433 asylum seekers from the ship onto an Australian navy troop carrier so they could be taken to Papua New Guinea.
Earlier, the Australian prime minister Mr John Howard told a Sydney news conference the HMAS Manoorawould take the mainly Afghan boat people from the Norwegian freighter to Papua New Guinea, where they would be put on planes for New Zealand and the tiny Pacific island of Nauru.
He remained resolute in his refusal to let the asylum seekers set foot on Australian soil but said that the government would respect Friday's injunction imposed by a court which is considering whether its handling of the crisis has been lawful.
"If there is a court order that people can't be shifted we have to take account of that", Mr Howard said.
"But I want it to be known that the court is being informed that the Manoorais now ready to take people."
An injunction against moving the asylum seekers or the freighter Tampa from its position off Australia's Christmas Island in the Indian Ocean remains in place.
The court has been asked to rule on whether the boat people had been unlawfully detained and if they had the right to apply for refugee status in Australia. The injunction against moving the asylum seekers was imposed on Friday.
The hearing in Melbourne was triggered by an application by the Victoria state Council for Civil Liberties.
Howard steadfastly refuses to allow the asylum seekers to land on Australian soil despite growing condemnation from the United Nations, Norway and human rights groups.
The Tampa, the Norwegian freighter, rescued the asylum seekers from a sinking Indonesian ferry on August 26th.
Nauru has agreed to take 283 of the boat people and New Zealand 150 while their asylum requests are processed.
"Agreement has been reached with the government of Papua New Guinea for the trans-shipment of the people from the Tampathrough (its capital) Port Moresby and then by aircraft to both Nauru and New Zealand," Mr Howard said.
The Tampa, secured by Australian troops four days ago, lay in Australian waters close to Christmas Island, which is 340 km (217 miles) south of Indonesia and 1,500 km (930 miles) west of the Australian mainland.
The Manooraarrived off Christmas Island this afternoon. Helicopters began ferrying supplies out to the troop carrier. Pillows, blankets and medical supplies lay stacked by the runway at the island's airport.
The United Nations had urged Australia to let the asylum seekers land on Christmas Island on humanitarian grounds.
"It is not an ideal situation and I feel for the refugees who are on this ship in the heat, in containers," UN Secretary General Kofi Annan said in South Africa.
About 5,000 illegal immigrants arrive in Australia each year, a small number compared with some countries but a massive rise from the 600 a year of a decade ago.