Dutton in denial again

Immigration Minister Peter Dutton has denied that the timing of his press conference on the interception of an asylum seeker boat is political.

Mr Dutton and Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull held separate press conferences to confirm a group of 21 asylum seekers has been returned to Vietnam earlier this month.

Twenty-one Vietnamese asylum seekers have been intercepted approaching Australia by boat, processed at sea, and returned to Vietnam.

The boat, intercepted by the navy earlier this month in the Timor Sea, is the third from Vietnam to be intercepted by Australian authorities in the past 14 months.

Asylum seekers previously forcibly returned to Vietnam have been jailed despite assurances from the Australian and Vietnamese governments that they would not be prosecuted, persecuted or punished for attempting to reach Australia.