MELBOURNE -- An Australian court on Monday overturned an earlier ruling that hundreds of unwanted asylum seekers taken by the navy to the tiny pacific Republic of Nauru must return to Australia. The full bench of the Federal Court upheld an appeal by the Australian government against an earlier ruling by Federal Court judge Tony North that the 433 mostly Afghan boat people, rescued by the Norwegian Freighter Tampa on August 26, must be sent to Australia. "The appeals will be allowed and the orders made by justice North set aside," Chief Justice Michael Black told the court. Black dissented in the 2-1 decision to overturn North's ruling. North last week ruled the Australian government acted illegally in using troops to storm the Tampa and reject the asylum seekers after a diplomatic stand-off with Norway and Indonesia, which also refused to accept them after they were rescued from a sinking Indonesian ferry. Australia loaded them onto the HMAS Manoora off its tiny Indian Ocean outpost of Christmas Island and sent them to Nauru, where they arrived earlier on Monday. Nauru has agreed to receive and process 283 of the 433 Tampa asylum seekers, with New Zealand agreeing to take 150. Under the deal with Australia, Nauru will also take an extra 237 picked up from an Indonesian ship intercepted by the Australia navy in international waters last week.