Peter Whish-Wilson (Tasmania, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

I, and also on behalf of Senator Wang, move:

That the Senate—

(a) notes that:

(i) in 1979 Australia adopted an anti-whaling policy, permanently ending whaling in Australian waters,

(ii) in 1986, the International Whaling Commission moratorium on commercial whaling came into place,

(iii) in March 2014, Australia won its case against Japan in the International Court of Justice in regards to whaling in Antarctic waters,

(iv) in November 2014, Japan lodged a new whaling plan with the International Whaling Commission to slaughter 3 333 minke whales in Antarctic water,

(v) in April 2015, the Scientific Committee rejected the need for lethal whale sampling in order for Japan to achieve its scientific objectives,

(vi) on 19 November 2015 the Federal Court of Australia fined the Japanese whaling company Kyodo $1 million for hunting whales within an Australian whale sanctuary, and

(vii) in the week beginning 29 November 2015, the Japanese Government gave notice That the whaling fleet will be leaving port to carry out their commercial whaling; and

(b) calls on the Government and the Prime Minister (Mr Turnbull) to:

(i) uphold their election commitment and send a customs patrol vessel to monitor any Japanese whaling activity, and collect evidence for future legal actions,

(ii) raise the issue, and express the disappointment of the Australian people, directly with the Japanese Prime Minister, Shinzō Abe, during discussions on bilateral relations, and

(iii) consider the option put forward by the Second Sydney Panel of Independent Experts to pursue United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea dispute resolution mechanisms to hold Japan accountable for their continued commercial whaling.

I seek leave to make short statement.