-
The front of the Ady Gill is seen ripped open after its collision with Japanese whaling ship Shonan Maru 2 - Source: ONE News -
Watch Video
-
Related
Prime Minister Kevin Rudd should cough up the $1.5 million needed to replace the anti-whaling ship Ady Gil, which was "rammed" by Japanese whalers, the Australian Greens say.
Leader Bob Brown also wants the federal government to send an Australian navy ship to the Southern Ocean to police the conflict zone.
Sea Shepard's futuristic light-weight vessel the Ady Gil had its bow sheared off in a collision with the Japanese whaler's ship Shonan Maru 2 on Wednesday.
"Kevin Rudd should be replacing that ship," Senator Brown told Fairfax Radio Network.
"(And) I think a naval ship should be down there.
"A whale observation ship, a naval ship, would have stopped that behaviour.
"We would not have seen a Japanese ship ramming the Ady Gil and ripping the front off."
Senator Brown said federal Labor had failed to do its job in the remote Antarctic waters, leaving protest organisations to spend millions of dollars to try to disrupt the Japanese slaughter.
"These are Australian waters," he said.
"Australia has not only a right but an obligation to be policing them.
"Instead of that it (the government) has left it to the whaling fleet to be in charge and calling the shots."
Greenpeace Australia has also called on the federal government to send a vessel to observe any future conflict.
"We strongly support calls for the Australian government to send an observer ship to the Southern Ocean," chief executive Linda Selvey told Fairfax Radio Network.
Selvey said Greenpeace vessels had been rammed by Japanese whaling ships in the past.
"Having an independent observer would have been very useful (in proving fault)," she said.
"Also, because it is very dangerous waters, it provides an additional safety measure."
What do you think about whaling in the Southern Ocean?
Have your say on our messageboard
Add a Comment:
Post new commentGiant Sequoia said on 2010-03-29 @ 09:35 NZDT: Report abusive post
Message for Sir Geoffrey Palmer Your suggested compromise with nations like Japan who are illegally and brutally ignoring the conservation pleas is a wrong decision to make. The underlying reason is that NZ wants to have a free trade agreement with Japan. Compromise is equivalent to selling your nation's integrity or soul to the devil. Japan is not a nation suffering from the lack of food - they are suffering from greed and NZ has just been used as a pawn.
qwert said on 2010-03-22 @ 06:11 NZDT: Report abusive post
SSCS is the group ignoring International laws and conventions. The reason No government will attempt to prosecute the Japanese is because they know Japan is not breaking any laws. As is implied in the article, any case brought against them in the int. Court of Justice would likely be decided in Japan's favor. All SSCS is doing making reasonable compromise with Japan more difficult and they are delaying the day when Japan stops all whaling. SSCS games are causing MORE whale deaths, Not less.
whalerider said on 2010-03-21 @ 17:53 NZDT: Report abusive post
By now even McCully must realise that you can't 'talk' to Japan.No Government has taken action over their breaches of Law of the Sea Convention, the International Convention for the Regulation of Whaling Convention [various breaches including an abuse of right of Article VIII & other regulations] , the Convention on the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR) [& other ATS conventions], and the Convention on Biological Diversity. Plus a few other irregularities. GO SSCS!
simc said on 2010-02-15 @ 16:04 NZDT: Report abusive post
cpederson Greenpeace and presumably the sea shepherd have tried numerous attempts to engage and communicate via other mediums, which have not amounted to success. The governments of NZ and Australia have a responsibility to bring these illegal practices to justice, but don't, so who will interfere with this pointless butchery? The Japanese ships collided with protestors countless times, do you really think the protestors really wish to risk their lives by creating a no-way out situation?
Zanziabar said on 2010-01-08 @ 20:02 NZDT: Report abusive post
Not an ounce of sympathy for the protestors on this one, The video shows them directly in the path of the whaling boat. What did they honestly expect to happen? It's a 1000 ton whaling ship that isn't going to be stopped by a plastic boat, It does deliberately seem like the protestors were gunning for this kind of reaction