Australia to Take Legal Action Against Japanese Whaling
The Australian government has decided to take legal action against Japan over its whaling in an area around Antarctica:
The Australian prime minister, Kevin Rudd, has come under pressure to honour a 2007 election pledge to ban whaling in an area the country considers a whale sanctuary. Japan does not recognise the sanctuary and insists its whaling fleet operates in international waters.
Rudd’s critics had accused him of reneging on his promise for fear of angering Japan, which is Australia’s second biggest export market.
The Australian foreign minister, Stephen Smith, said the International Whaling Commission’s failure to find a diplomatic solution had left the government with no choice.
“The Australian government has not taken this decision lightly,” he said. But recent statements by whaling countries in the commission have provided Australia with little cause for hope that our serious commitment to conservation of the world’s whales will be reflected in any potential IWC compromise agreement.”
Although both countries were quick to characterise the forthcoming legal battle as a dispute between friends, Japan’s agriculture minister, Hirotaka Akamatsu, described the announcement as “extremely regrettable”, and insisted that the scientific hunts were permitted by international law.
An Australian opposition leader has called the move “a smokescreen for the Government’s failures.”
Australia’s claim to a huge chunk of Antarctica is only recognized by a few other countries, all of whom have made similarly dubious territorial claims to other parts of the continent. The Japanese government appears to be confident that it will win any legal case Australia tries to bring against it.
For more thoughts on Australia’s decision to take legal action against Japan’s whaling program, check out this post on Coming Anarchy.
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