The current Australian Labor government has had a rather spotty record during its brief hold on power and may, in fact, be imploding as I write. * One thing they’ve been consistent on, however, is an opposition to whaling. In fact Australia and her Antipodean sister New Zealand, have been two of the most vocal opponents to commercial whaling. This is largely because much of the whaling done by Japanese ‘researchers’ is carried out in the Southern Ocean, waters that Australia and New Zealand hold dear.

Their opposition to whaling was on display again this week as the International Whaling Commission (IWC) met in Morocco this week to consider lifting the international ban on commercial whaling. Japan, Norway and Iceland wanted the ban lifted, claiming that many of the animals are no longer endangered and thus, no longer require protection. The IWS says that their proposal, which lifts the commercial ban for a decade, could potentially offer more protection to whales through lower quotas and better monitoring of whaling activities. Realistically, however, all the proposal meant was that Japan would stop killing whales for ‘research purposes’ and start killing them for commercial purposes. Less semantics, same amount of whale slaughtering.

After two days of talks this week, the proposal fell apart. About half of the 88 member IWC supported the proposal. The U.S., apparently, was willing to compromise with pro-whaling members. The U.S.? Compromise? What’s going on over there?

Australia and New Zealand stood firm in opposition, however, as did a number of Latin American countries. The result? Today the 24 year moratorium on commercial whaling will remain in place.

The bad news is, that this doesn’t resolve the issue. Norway and Iceland will still hunt whales under their policy of ignoring the IWC and Japan will still kill whales for bogus research purposes. But the IWC proposal was a slippery slope that opened the door to a larger scale resumption of commercial whaling.

Full disclosure – I’m not impartial on whaling. I find the stalking and killing of whales to be inhumane. That being said, I’m very proud of my adopted homeland for standing up to what was no doubt intense pressure to soften their stance on whaling. I know that the result is a continuing stalemate, but there are a few things that are black and white, right or wrong, and killing whales for sport of profit is absolutely one. Good on’ya, Aussies.

————————-

* Actually looks as if they’re going to be OK and Australia has her first female prime minister.

Image: “Whale Fishery: Attacking a Right Whale” – U.S. Library of Congress (Public Domain)