2017-06-16
Greens spokesperson for Healthy Oceans, Senator Peter Whish-Wilson, has lashed out at moves in the Japanese Parliament to help Japan resume commercial whaling and calls upon Malcolm Turnbull to condemn the moves.
Senator Whish-Wilson said, “For years and years Japan has conducted whaling on Australia’s doorstep in the Southern Ocean under the guise of scientific research but these moves in the Japanese Parliament to reinstate commercial whaling show that ‘scientific whaling’ is just a sham.
“Japan has been increasingly aggressive in defence of its whaling program and is trying to turn the tide on decades of international pressure to get it to abandon the outdated and cruel practice.
“Ever since Tony Abbott put trade before whales, Australia has run dead on the issue, and this has allowed Japan to take an increasingly assertive position.
“Japan has snubbed its nose at the Australian Federal Court decision and disregarded international law by extracting itself from the jurisdiction of the International Court of Justice in relation to whaling.
“Japanese whaling is an assault on Australian interests – our marine life, our territorial interests and our pursuit of a rules-based global order.
“It’s time for Malcolm Turnbull to stand up for Australia in the face of Japan’s intransigence,” he concluded.