Australian Environment Minister Burke rebuffs Japan’s whaling defense

Posted on February 28, 2013 by Ida Torres in Features, National with 22 Comments
Australian Environment Minister Burke rebuffs Japan’s whaling defense

Australian Environment Minister Tony Burke has rejected Japan’s recent top-level defense of whaling. He said that Japan has long abandoned any pretence of scientific reasons for whaling and should not even be bringing in culture and tradition into its reasoning for killing the mammals.

Burke is referring to recent comments by Fisheries Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi who said that whaling is important to the marine food security of Japan and that the attacks against it by other countries and militant conservationists are an attack on Japan’s culture and tradition of whaling. Mr. Hayashi also indicated that Japan will not stop its whaling program, despite these protests and even a claim by Australia at the International Court of Justice that Japan’s scientific whaling is a “sham”. Burke added, ”How absurd has the argument become, if Japan is now arguing that it has a traditional cultural practice of travelling from one side of the planet to the other to kill whales in a whale sanctuary.”

Japan’s whaling program received a boost when a US Court severely criticized the tactics of Sea Shepherd in dealing with the whaling fleets. A panel of three judges led by the US Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals chief judge, Alex Kozinski said that their methods are the ”very embodiment of piracy”. The whaling fleet and Sea Shepherd were involved in an incident last Monday where the two sides accused each other of ramming its vessels.

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[ via Canberra Times ]
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  • Ryohei Uchida

    This Tony Burke character has really come off the rails of late.
    Now he’s just firing off random claims and conjecture. I guess it is really
    dawning on the Australian government that their frivolous case against Japan’s
    whaling program in the ICJ is doomed to spectacular failure. The stench of desperation is similar to the one emanating from the Sea Shepherd goons.

    But it’s really not going well at all for the anti-whaling fairies lately. Sea Shepherd are being dumped on by the US courts which consider them low-life violent pirates, Paul Watson is on
    the run without a passport from multiple Interpol Red Notices, Sea Shepherd is being sued by former members and donors, Sea Shepherd is being sued by victims of their violence across the globe, Sea Shepherd is violating US court injunctions etc etc etc. It’s just a big old mess for those losers. They’ve never been more irrelevant.

    But as Rear Admiral (ret’d) James Goldrick of Australia noted, “The best way to stop Sea
    Shepherd is to cut its funding. And the best way for that to happen is for donors and would-be donors to think again before they commit money to the organisation. There are many more constructive and deserving environmental causes which need help and which can achieve more”.

    Indeed. Together with the injunction and the law suit in the US, if we work together we can finally bring the boot down upon the Sea Shepherd cockroach and stamp it out for good.
    Shut it down financially, arrest and prosecute its leadership under relevant international legal instruments, confiscate its vessels and weapons and consign it to the rubbish bin of history. We can rid the world of violent piracy and lying profiteers if we just work together to uphold international law.

    • RP

      You have ZERO understanding or comprehension of International law regarding whaling based on all that you have written. It is also clear you are a shill for the corrupt Japanese Whaling establishment.

      • Michael Raymer

        You know, you can win this argument. Just stick your fingers in your ears and scream “la la la la” as loud as you can. They won’t know what hit em!

  • RP

    *United States courts have no authority in Australian ocean and International ocean waters. That US court is trying to go well past their legal authority as the current anti-whaling effort by Sea Shepard is based in Australia and Sea Shepard is a International Organization.

    *As been posted numerous times before, Justifying the barbaric, cruel and blood thirsty poaching of whales in Australian ocean waters and in Australian whale sanctuary is wrong, illegal and completely UN-justifiable beyond the Japanese whalers breaking international and Australian law.

    *Could any Japanese official or Japanese individual or group justify poaching and killing whales in another Nations ocean waters on any level.

    *The Japanese government sends an armed Japanese military ship into the conflict well within Australian ocean waters and drops off military personal on to the Sun Laurel tanker to flash/stun bomb human beings on Sea Shepard ships.

    *The ICR released highly edited video as a propaganda tool as a means to try and turn world public opinion..

    *It is clear the ICR has nothing to do with “science” it is all about illegal commercial whaling that produces whale meat the Japanese home market does not want or have any real desire for. Yet, the arrogance of Yoshimasa Hayashi very clear, he is willing to waste billions of Japanese tax payer Yen to support his personal addenda, saving face and not allowing any shame to harm his public image.

    *The citizens and government officials of Japan must seriously consider how the rest of the world views what Japan’s whaling fleet is doing. It is very much a reflection of Japan as a nation as well what it means to be a Japanese citizen.

    *All that has happened does not shine a positive light for Japan as a nation or it’s government officials.

    • -observer-

      I agree. Stop the whaling. These are magnificent creatures of the ocean. Stop the Slaughter.

  • RP

    “Sea Shepherd is upholding Australian and International law with all campaigns guided by the United Nations World Charter for Nature, which provides authority to individuals to act on behalf of and enforce international conservation laws..

    Japan has finally come out and completely labelled their poaching activities for what they are, commercial whaling in an established whale sanctuary.”

    • ddpalmer

      The UN World Charter for Nature does not give Sea Shepherd or anyone else authority to do anything.

      • Boo Radley

        Yes it does. Not only that but the whalers are breaking Australian LAW ( and Australia’s bio-diversity act) by harming whales …as well as hunting them inside both Australian and International whale sanctuaries set up by the IWC.

        • ddpalmer

          No it doesn’t. And Sea Shepherd has no authority from Australia to enforce
          Australian law either, not that Asutralian law applies anyway.

          The UN WCfN is a resolution of the General Assembly. Only resolutions
          passed by the Security Council have any legal effect.

          How are they breaking Australian laws by whaling in an international
          sanctuary?

          You do realize that only 5 countries recogize Australia’s claim? The other
          191 countries consider it international waters. Even an Australian Federal judge
          said that Asutralia can’t enforce their laws in the area.

          And it isn’t illegal to hunt whales under the IWC Article VIII in the
          international sanctuary. An international sanctuary that was established in
          violation of the IWC’s own regulations.

          • Think

            Utterly false as usual. Did I miss Kyrgyzstan’s polar discovery? Show us a statement from Kazakhstan, Burkino Faso or the Vatican challenging Australia’s territorial claim.

            Again your statements tend to show more about what you don’t understand, and how you are willing to twist things, especially when it comes to legal and scientific matters. A policy of non-recognition is not the same as not recognising.

            While Australia’s territorial claim goes back to 1933, the Antarctic Treaty only came into force in 1961. It is neither a final settlement nor formally sanctioned by the United Nations. Only 7 nations have a pony in the race. 4 of them support Australia. Along with its geographical connection and historical occupation, that puts it in a very strong position.

            It’s agreement, it’s an ongoing discussion, it’s a little bit of an arm wrestle but to pose 191 countries as some kind of binding democratic dissent to weaken Australia’s case and strengthen the Japanese whalers’ is deliberately misleading.

            The treaty allows science. The Japanese minister has recently made it perfectly clear his nation is carrying out commercial whaling. The whalers are in the wrong. The Japanese, for whatever reason, want to carry out commercial whaling there in the future

          • ddpalmer

            What a moron. I never said that anyone challenged Australia’s claim, I said they didn’t recognize it. But we know you have a problem with English and like to use strawmen.

            “A policy of non-recognition is not the same as not recognising.” ROFLMAO!!

            Sorry loser but your claim of 7 is just so laughable as to be moronic. You do realize there are countries that have reserved the right to make future claims right? And sorry again loser but their historical claim is useless when they sign a treaty that says all claims are now in abeyance. Plus in 1961 they didn’t claim the an EEZ off shore of their land claim and the ATS specifically disallows any new claims. So their new claim of an EEZ is in violation of the ATS. But don’t let your lack of knowledge about the law prevent you from making more moronic statements.

            Again with the strawmen. I didn’t say anything about a binding democratic dissent, I didn’t say anything about it strengthening the Japanese whalers. And it is pathetic to see Mr Deliberately Misleading whining about a false claim that someone else is being misleading.

            And now Mr Deliberately Misleading is lying about what the Japanese minister said.

            Did I ever claim they didn’t want to carry out commercial whaling their? Heck I believe you will find that I have directly stated that commercial whaling is one of the major stated goals of their research plan.

            Your flailing about trying to smear me with your lies and find something to bolster your false claims gives me a good laugh every day.

          • Think

            So, honestly, what motivates you to spend your retirement on defending the rights of a handful of butchers and slaughtermen to kill endanger species?

            Are there really not any better causes you feel moved by?

            I mean, what is it … you used to work in the meat industry so now you feel some affinity with the Japanese equivalent?

  • RP

    The best way for Japan to stop killing whales for no good justifiable reason is for the citizens of Japan to realize what the ICR is doing is not only illegal, but a total waste of Japanese tax payer Yen.

    Using science as a facade to kill and poach whales for commercial wealth in Australian ocean waters is an international crime.

    The real pirates and terrorist and International law breakers here are the Japanese Whalers and every official at the ICR involved with Japan’s whaling program.

    • Boo Radley

      The whaling program brings great shame upon Japan. The Japanese minsters often wax lyrical about their great friendship with the nations whose whales they pick off. But the fact is they they are committing Hari Kiri to their friendship with nations , not only because of their obstinate nature an cruelty towards whales, but the simple fact that the operate under a lie. Lying to your friends is no way to treat a friend.

  • Think

    Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi makes a ridiculous statement because any nation in a condition of threatened “food security” would not be in a position to send 3 ships and a 8,000 ton floating slaughterhouse 8,000 miles down to the Antarctica.

    Especially a nation depending on imported oil as Japan is. What’s next? A nuclear powered whaling ship for Japan?

    The energy equation of whale meat as a food stuff (i.e. fossil fuel consumed to make it versus the amount of energy and other food values out for humans) is amongst the worst of all food stuffs. It’s nothing but an needless and perverse indulgence for a tiny minority of conservative consumers.

    It’s sad Japan is tarnished by this. It’s not traditional at al. It was something that was forced upon them by the Americans after WWII so that the USA could benefit for the whale oil to be used in everything from its military programs to its automobiles’ automatic transmissions. It was nothing in the real interest of Post-War Japan at all.

    • Michael Raymer

      Who cares if it’s not traditional? The British, for instance, have only been consuming potatoes for a relatively short period of time but no one uses that as a reason to stop them eating it.

      As for whale meat, it is far more environmentally friendly than beef and pork. Beef and pork farming requires the clearing of vast areas of forest and is hugely water and energy intensive. It also produces vast quantities of carbon dioxide. Whaling, on the other hand, requires none of that. It is all free range. No cruel factory farming, no barbaric industrial abbatoirs, no chemicals, no nothing. Just free range goodness. And best of all, it is entirely sustainable too. So really, whale meat is the ethical and ‘green’ choice. Make the switch today!

      • Sue Jue

        Avoiding eating meat altogether is the only ethical choice not to mention the most green and healthy.

      • Boo Radley

        Ah yes but remember this is all supposed to be about research whaling. Not whaling for food, profit or other.

  • Monkey Japs

    Cancer Of Earth, Japan.

    Nuclear Pollution, illegal Whaling, violation of territorial waters, lands, Robing a Tomb, stealing cultural essets, worship a war criminal etc…

  • Monkey Japs

    jap’s visible lies only can affect in Japan, uncivilized monkey islands.

  • Monkey Japs

    Cancer Of Earth, Japan.

    Nuclear Pollution, illegal Whaling, violation of territorial waters, lands, Robing a Tomb, stealing cultural essets, worship a war criminal etc…

    jap’s visible lies only can affect in Japan, uncivilized monkey islands.

  • not

    U.S.A thinks japanese Goverment is weak!