Whaling Wars: New Zealand Supports Australia Against Japan's Whaling

New Zealand shows its support to Australia's anti-whaling action against Japan by visiting Hague for the fourth consecutive time. Australia is currently in a court battle against Japan's alleged scientific whale hunting in the Southern Ocean.

Attorney-General Chris Finlayson gave his presentation to Netherland's International Court of Justice in Australia's third and final week of legal battle against Japanese whaling.

The Australian government asks 16-judge panel to restrict Tokyo's annual whaling on the basis that it is not covered under Article Eight of the 1946 International Convention for the Regulation of Whaling.

Finlayson said New Zealand did not hesitate to intervene and push arguments forward with regards to the construction of the convention. As discussed in the international court, Article Eight describes the special permit procedure which gives a party the right to kill whales only for scientific purposes only.

He hopes that the court will provide guidelines for all interested parties regarding their treatment of Article Eight. Finlayson wants the court to clarify what constitutes "scientific purposes" so all involved parties will be able to work with said guidelines.

The International Fund for Animal Welfare also supports New Zealand's action to back up Australia said that Japan's so-called scientific whaling was a "sham". A spokesperson for the organisation said commercial whaling is an outdated practice that does not provide scientific value. The statement goes for all whaling activities whether conducted openly or under the guise of science.

The International Court's decision will be of great significance not only for the whale population in the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary but also for future multilateral environmental agreements. Attorney-General Finlayson said it still remains to be whether the court will ban whaling.

After Finlayson's presentation, Judge Antonio Trindade asked Japan what would happen to the whale population if all state parties would decide to engage in "scientific whaling" similar to what Tokyo has done.

The Australia-Japan whaling wars have yet to be concluded.