Whaling Now A NZ Political Football

Many New Zealanders were stunned when, at the recent meeting of the International Whaling Commission (IWC), NZ seemed to modify its long-held position...and support an idea to allow Japan, Norway and Iceland to openly hunt whales, but aim to reduce the total catch over the next 10 years.
Our government feels closing the "scientific research" loophole via a trade-off is a good diplomatic solution! Hello!! The only people who'd be joyous over this would be the whalers themselves!
Our IWC representative, Sir Geoffrey Palmer, calls it "enormous progress" if Japan was stopped from using the scientific whaling loophole. The only acceptable progress on this issue would be complete ceasation of commercial whaling [note that a 'gradual reduction' of kill numbers over the next ten years is not 'guaranteed ceasation' at the end of those ten years...].
Now the Labour Opposition's Foreign Affairs Spokesman Chris Carter has started an on-line petition, urging people to oppose a restart of commercial whaling. In a country that prides itself as clean-and-green and has always held the ocean and its contents in high regard, strong support for this petition will send a very clear message to PM John Key and Foreign Affairs monkey Murray McCully that a return to commercial whaling is not an option.
The online petition is at carter.org.nz/savethewhales or [click here]. And please...pass the word around.

PS: 22 March 2010 - Prime Minister John Key agrees killing whales is akin to murder but he is supportive of reaching an agreement to allow some whaling if it reduces the numbers taken. He is still hopeful of a diplomatic solution which will basically give the Japanese exactly what they want...and that's called "diplomacy"?