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Australia, New Zealand Accuse Whalers Of Stalling Over Censure Motion
Ulsan, South Korea (AFP) Jun 21, 2005 New Zealand and Australia accused whaling nations Tuesday of trying to stall a meeting of the world's whaling body to stop it from passing a resolution condemning Japan's research cull. The two leading anti-whaling campaigners had put forward a non-binding resolution with 24 other nations calling for Japan's hunt to be scrapped, but debate was suspended when pro-whaling nations voted for an extraordinary commissioners' meeting behind closed doors. Whaling nations narrowly lost a vote to the anti-whaling camp on Monday, but with at least two pro-catch members still to turn up to the International Whaling Commission's meeting in South Korea, the resolution could still be defeated. New Zealand and Australia said the pro-hunt lobby wanted to delay the commission's work until the arrival of the new members, who unexpectedly joined the bloc last week. "I guess it depends on whether Japan's new chums Nauru and Togo arrive," said New Zealand's Conservation Minister Chris Carter. "I guess it's all about numbers. "It's an absolute stalling tactic. The arguments from the commissioners' meeting are absolutely absurd. Brazil has already walked out of the meeting in disgust and certainly the New Zealand and Australian delegations are feeling much the same." "We just think this is once again an example of the appallingly corrupt and undemocratic practices that have been going on at the IWC," he said. "We regard it as simply a filibuster to await the arrival of Togo and Nauru." Australian Environment Minister Ian Campbell echoed the sentiments. "It's quite clear that the whale-killing nations want to hold off the vote... They were defeated yesterday and they need the countries that joined last Friday to arrive and they obviously know what aeroplanes they are on. "They'll use every tactic that they can think of to stop open and democratic debate.... They've retired to a little room to have secret discussions about a secret issue." He said a group of pro-whaling nations was behind the move. "It's the countries that support the slaughter of whales using grenades, and what would you expect from people that do that?" Japan announced Monday it intended to increase its so-called scientific cull from a total of some 650 whales a year to around 1,300 using a loophole in the 19-year moratorium on commercial whaling. Conservationists have condemned the proposals as a cynical exploitation of the whaling commission's rules and lacking in any scientific backing. "New Zealand totally rejects Japan's arguments about the science of its whaling programme. We see it just a front to continue whaling," Carter said. "How can you justify slaughtering 8,500 whales over the last 18 years and not have no real science to show for it?" Community Email This Article Comment On This Article Related Links SpaceDaily Search SpaceDaily Subscribe To SpaceDaily Express Dirt, rocks and all the stuff we stand on firmly
Magnetic Reconnection Region Larger Than 2.5 Million Km Found In The Solar Wind
Paris (ESA) Jan 12, 2006Using the ESA Cluster spacecraft and the NASA Wind and ACE satellites, a team of American and European scientists have discovered the largest jets of particles created between the Earth and the Sun by magnetic reconnection. This result makes the cover of this week's issue of Nature. |
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