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| Australia gears up for whaling fight | |
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| Topic Started: May 31 2006, 04:39 AM (64 Views) | |
| Deleted User | May 31 2006, 04:39 AM Post #1 |
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Australia gears up for whaling fight By environment reporter Sarah Clarke http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200605/s1650783.htm Australia is stepping up attempts to block Japan's bid to resume commercial whaling with Environment Minister Ian Campbell conducting a whistlestop tour of the Pacific. Some Pacific nations have in the past backed Japan's pro-whaling stance after reportedly receiving generous financial aid from Tokyo. The International Whaling Commission (IWC) meets in a fortnight to vote on the issue. While there are concerns that the pro-whaling block may get the votes it needs to lift the whaling ban, Senator Campbell is confident he has made some headway in putting Australia's case. The two-day Pacific tour is Australia's last-ditch attempt to secure crucial votes before this year's IWC meeting. Three stops The three stops include Kiribati, the Marshall Islands and Vanuatu. Kiribati is one of the newest members of the commission, and last year voted with Japan. Senator Campbell says he is hopeful it has had a change of heart. "Kiribati was a crucial vote last year, we weren't successful in swaying them but I have communicated with them through writing through the year, giving them scientific information we've been gathering that's hopefully of assistance and that they've shown genuine interest in," he said. Senator Campbell says Australia will not offer extra aid to secure the vote. "No, we make sure that those issues are totally separated," he said. "We've had a longstanding program of assistance to the Pacific, we will do that regardless." Vanuatu has just declared a whale conservation zone but is not a member of the IWC. There is speculation that the Marshall Islands are considering joining up and Japan may have been heavily lobbying them to sign. Climate change Some Pacific nations have argued that Australia's policy on climate change is good reason to vote with Japan, but Senator Campbell says he does not get that feeling. "I met with many Pacific island nations in New York a couple of weeks ago and I think most of the nations in the Pacific recognise Australia has very, very large and practically focused climate change policies, so amongst the key environment ministers from the other Pacific nations I think there's a deep appreciation of Australia's strong commitment to good climate change policies and to engaging with Pacific nations in regards to that," he said. There are now 66 members of the IWC. Last year Nauru, Togo and Gambia joined at the last minute, and agreed to support the pro-whaling camp. Gambia and Togo arrived too late to vote. Senator Campbell says this year he believes Japan may have the numbers to take control of the commission. Nicola Beynon from Humane Society International says that could lead to the 20-year ban on commercial whaling being overturned. "They could instate secret ballots so all the votes would be conducted in secrecy and we could see votes passed that would just make the resumption of commercial whaling easier to achieve," she said. "We could see them dismantle all the conservation measures that have been passed over the last 20 or so years. There's a lot of dangerous things that the whalers could do with a simple majority." |
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8:07 AM Jul 12