Photo: Under scrutiny: Immigration Minister Scott Morrison (right) and Lieutenant General Angus Campbell. (AAP: Alan Porritt)
Related Story: Scott Morrison fronts Senate committee over asylum seeker policies
Immigration Minister Scott Morrison has stood by the Government's decision not to release details about its border protection policy.
Mr Morrison and senior officials from Customs, Immigration and Defence were questioned at a Senate inquiry, which was called to investigate the Government's refusal to produce documents relating to Operation Sovereign Borders.
Mr Morrison says releasing secret documents about the border protection policy would make it harder to stop the boats.
"It would not be in our national interest or the public interest to disclose this information that would impede our ability to stop the boats," he told senators.
"It would be reckless and irresponsible, particularly given the significant progress that is being made."
Look back at how the hearing unfolded in our live blog.
Under heated questioning by Labor senator Kim Carr, Mr Morrison refused to confirm he has read the documents he is withholding from public release.
"I am aware of them," Mr Morrison said.
"You have not read the documents," Senator Carr said.
"Well, that is your assertion," Mr Morrison replied.
Mr Morrison also outlined the type of information that is being withheld from the public.
"[It] includes but is not limited to on water tactics, training procedures, operational instructions, specific incident reports, intelligence, posturing and deployment of assets, timing and occurrence of operations, and the identification of attempted individual voyages, passenger information, including nationalities," he said.
Video: Kim Carr in heated exchange with Scott Morrison (ABC News)
The Government says boat arrivals have dropped dramatically since it took office.
But Mr Morrison would not say how many asylum seeker boats have entered Australian waters in recent weeks.
He says to do so would not be in the "national interest" and could even give people smugglers a tactical advantage.
However the Commander of Operation Sovereign Borders, Lieutenant General Angus Campbell, says the number of "arrivals" - the asylum seekers taken into Immigration Detention - has dropped dramatically.
"It's now been 43 days since maritime arrivals were transferred into our control," he said.
"Without the approach of the release of information that has been adopted under Operation Sovereign Borders, it is my judgement that we would not be where we are today."
The head of Customs, Michael Pezzullo, told the inquiry that withholding information also helps keep Australian officials safe at sea.
"We frankly don't give a damn about the media cycle and what's going to be said on [ABC show] Q&A and all the rest of it," he said.
"What matters to us is how do you successfully execute and implement a Government policy."
Greens want Morrison to release footage
The Greens have called on the Immigration Minister to release the recorded vision of a boat turn-back operation.
A Somali asylum seeker has also said his burns occurred after being temporarily blinded after sailors sprayed him in the eyes.
The claims that Navy personnel may have acted inappropriately, which first appeared in the Indonesian media on January 7, have been emphatically denied by Mr Morrison.
The Minister insists there is no evidence Navy personnel caused the burns and he has confirmed that some operations are filmed.
Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young says the footage should be made public.
"Rather than continuing to smear the stories from either Navy personnel or refugees themselves, let's be upfront and see the footage released," she said.
Ms Hanson-Young says there is a clear double standard because the Government cooperates with a commercial television station to broadcast a border security program in Australian airports.
Mr Morrison is the first House of Representatives minister to front a Senate inquiry since 1992.
He said he did so voluntarily because he wanted to support his border protection colleagues.
"I respect the Senate, which my presence here today without invitation and my own initiative, hopefully demonstrates," he said.
"But to reply with the request [to release documents] would impede the continued success of our operations."
