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Charity No. 1014705

2010-01-04

Australian Opposition Calls On Government To Prosecute Japan Over Whaling

Australias Labor government should instigate an international court action against the whale-hunting nation of Japan by the end of the month to avoiding breaking its 2007 election promise, the Australian opposition Liberal Party environment spokesman Greg Hunt says.

In an open letter addressed to Environment Minister Peter Garrett, Mr Hunt has pushed for the government to set a date to meet commitments it made in the last election campaign.

Mr Hunts claim is that the Government promised to take Japan to the International Court of Justice and he has called on the Government to commit to a date to institute the promised court case and to bring the legal action by January 31, with a view to withdrawing the documents if Japan agreed to cease whaling by June 30.

However, the Government has pointed out that Mr Hunt is pushing for deadlines that his own Party would never have contemplated themselves. "For 12 years [the now opposition] Liberal Party repeatedly ruled out international legal action, refused to monitor the Japanese whaling fleet and oversaw a doubling of the number of whales targeted by Japan in the Southern Ocean," a spokesman for the Minster for Environment said. "Now the opposition spokesman hunts for a headline by imposing false deadlines for action his party wouldnt contemplate."

Minister Garretts office said the government remained resolutely opposed to whaling, but would endeavor to resolve the matter diplomatically before resorting to international legal action.

Source: The Age


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