Minister urged to take tough line at IWC meeting
“Unqualified opposition to all commercial whaling in the Southern Ocean Sanctuary is the only position which Foreign Minister Murray McCully, can justifiably adopt when he represents New Zealand at the International Whaling Commission’s meeting next month in Agadir” said Stephnie de Ruyter, Leader of Democrats for Social Credit.
“Today’s announcement that New Zealand remains undecided about joining Australia in filing a case in the International Court of Justice (ICJ) against Japanese whaling in the southern ocean while a diplomatic solution is sought ignores the obvious: no diplomatic solution is in sight.
“Polite efforts to secure a compromise proposal at the IWC meeting fail to recognise the repugnance with which New Zealanders view Japan’s commercial whaling under the guise of scientific research” Ms de Ruyter said.
“Greenpeace activists, as well as individual New Zealanders such as Pete Bethune, campaign tirelessly to protect whales in the Southern Ocean Sanctuary, often putting themselves at risk to draw attention to Japan’s 23 year long flaunting of the global whaling moratorium.
“The DSC urges Minister McCully to accurately reflect the views of New Zealanders by taking a tough line against whaling at the IWC” Ms de Ruyter concluded.
Published: May 2010