It’s about that time of the year where things start getting interesting out in those frigid waters of the Southern Ocean. Though this time around the news worthy stuff happened off the coast of Bunbury, when 3 Australian’s boarded the Japanese Whaling ship the Shonan Maru No.2.
Regardless of what side of the fence you are on with regards to the whole whaling issue, you would have to agree that the behaviour of the ALP Australian Government has been deplorable.
Here they are on one hand professing that they are against whaling and that they are in the process of taking Japan to the International Court about the legality of whaling, yet on the other are doing nothing to enforce the laws of Australia in territorial waters. (Whilst the court case being launched in 2010, it will be years before a decision is reached).
As Paul Watson has said a number of times, this matter highlights the hypocrisy of the Australian government. They will send the navy out after poachers in our Northern waters and detain those involved. Yet when it comes to Japan whaling in Australia’s Antartic Territorial Waters, all they do is wave a finger at them, and make a few phone calls.
Whether you think the boarding of the Shonan Maru No.2 was legal or not is beside the point. The fact of the matter is that this happened within the internationally recognised Contiguous zone of Australia, where Australia may exercise the control necessary to prevent or punish infringements of its customs, fiscal, immigration or sanitary laws and regulations.
If it this ship was boarded in international waters, as the whalers and the Australian Government claim, then lets see the matter heard in an Australian Court. If it was within the Australian Contiguous Zone, then impound the ship and prosecute the captain.
Federal Attorney-General Nicola Roxon threatening to send the three individuals the bill for their rescue is yet another way that the Gillard government is showing it’s support for Japan.
Supposedly, it is OK to send defence force assets, and risk the lives of those defence personnel, to rescue some around the world sailor when they get into trouble without them being sent the bill for the rescue. Yet get detained against your will on a ship that is illegally in Australian waters and you will be sent the bill for your retrieval.
The refusal of the Gillard Government to enforce Australian law, and that they aren’t really doing anything to actually stop whaling is further highlighted be the appearance of the harpoon boat Yushin Maru No.3 off the coast of Tasmania. Once again all that happened was that there were a few phone calls made requesting that this vessel leave Australian waters.
This more that proves the utter contempt that the ICR and the captains of the whaling vessels have for Australian Law.
There have been various media reports claiming that public support for what Sea Shepherd and their anti-whaling stance is waning. I disagree with this and actually believe that it is a ploy by the media to stay onside with the government on this issue. Otherwise they would be highlighting the fact that the only reason that they are down there is because the Gillard Government isn’t doing anything about it.
One thing is for sure, the time has come for the Gillard Government to step up to the plate and actually do something meaningful to bring about an end to the conflict between the two parties, with the only option of being to send the ACV Ocean Protector into the area to do it job. After all, isn’t that why we have that vessel in the first place?
What needs to happen is that Australian laws need to be tightened up to prohibit the deliberate passage of an active whaling vessel through our waters, along with the ability for the defence force or customs to intercept and detain this vessel and prosecute the captain and crew in an Australian court.
With both parties claiming that they have the legal authority protecting their actions, two tasks mentioned above may go some way towards reducing the possibility of someone getting seriously injured or killed.
After all, this year we have seen the ICR test the Gillard Government’s resolve by entering our waters on three seperate occasions with very little response. Now that they got away with that, who knows what they will try next year.
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