Its bluff has been called – Australia goes to the International Court of Justice in The Hague next week, to stop Japan's Southern Ocean whaling. The International Whaling Commission (IWC) banned commercial whaling in 1986, with just a few native groups permitted to hunt whales for food. Norway and Iceland have since objected to the ban and continue to hunt whales, and of course Japan stretched the "scientific" loophole to this breakpoint.
Japan maintains its annual "scientific" hunts are permitted under international law and accuses Oz of political gameplaying. Although both countries call the legal battle a 'dispute between friends', Japan describes it as "extremely regrettable".
Meanwhile New Zealand – once the flagship of environmentally-concerned nations – has a problem with erectile dyfunction: our limp-dick government still says all avenues will be looked at before maybe... possibly... thinking about... er...um.... standing strong with big brother Oz. Gee, the government must be using a vastly different roadmap to the majority of NZers – who think the avenues, roads and streets have all been revealed as dead-ends.
Last Thursday, kiwi Sea Shepherd campaigner Peter Bethune pleaded guilty in a Tokyo court to charges including trespassing and the destruction of property, after boarding a Japanese whaler in February to give its captain a $3 million bill for damages caused when it rammed and sank Ady Gil. Bethune faces up to 15 years in prison... yet our government has been conspicuous by its whimperings on this issue too: it continues "diplomatic dialogue".
W – T – F is the point, if nothing is achieved? Oh, that's right: NZ$3.6-billion of international trade: Nasty Nippon is our 4th.largest export market.
Silly me...how could I forget?
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