A protest by thousands of angry people has marred the opening of parliament in Australia, following a published report the government spied on Australian citizens last year.

An Australian newspaper, the Daily Telegraph, charged Tuesday that authorities intercepted private phone calls made to a Norwegian ship during a dispute over asylum seekers.

Watched over by dozens of police and security guards, about 2,000 people demonstrated on the lawns of Parliament, waving banners and chanting "free the refugees."

The Daily Telegraph said transcripts of the private conversations intercepted by Australia's Defense Signal Directorate were used to formulate a political response to the controversy over Australia's refusal to allow the Norwegian freighter to land the asylum seekers. It said the intercepted phone calls involved officials of the International Transport Federation, the Maritime Union of Australia and the crew of the ship.

Such eavesdropping is only supposed to take place under extreme circumstances involving criminal activity or a threat to the lives of Australians. Opposition Labor leader Simon Crean demanded an explanation from Prime Minister John Howard.

Government minister Tony Abbott defended intercepting the calls, citing threats against the ship's captain by the asylum seekers.

The Canberra government faced international criticism in August for sending special troops aboard the cargo ship to prevent the 434 mainly Afghan asylum seekers from coming ashore. The boat people were subsequently transferred to the tiny Pacific island of Nauru to have have their asylum claims processed.

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