Greg Hunt (Flinders, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Climate Change, Environment and Water) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and the Arts. Minister, does the government stand by its ironclad, unequivocal promise of 20 May 2005, 24 May 2005, 20 June 2005, 18 July 2005, 19 May 2007 and 20 May 2007 to take Japan to the International Court of Justice to stop whaling?

Peter Garrett (Kingsford Smith, Australian Labor Party, Minister for the Environment, Heritage and the Arts) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the honourable member for his question. I point out to the honourable member that the government remains absolutely committed to opposing commercial whaling and so-called scientific whaling in whatever form. I also point out to the member opposite that all of the things that the government has said we would do, we have done. We said we would ramp up the diplomatic engagement on whaling, and we did—in fact, through a formal diplomatic protest in Tokyo of 31 members of the International Whaling Commission, the largest protest of its kind to date. We said we would appoint a special envoy for whaling, and we have done that through the appointment of Sandy Hollway. We said we would advance reforms to the International Whaling Commission to bring the International Whaling Commission into the 21st century through the modernisation agenda that this government—

Greg Hunt (Flinders, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Climate Change, Environment and Water) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr Speaker, I raise a point of order on relevance. The question was about the International Court of Justice—yes or no.

Harry Jenkins (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order! The minister is responding to a question about whaling.

Peter Garrett (Kingsford Smith, Australian Labor Party, Minister for the Environment, Heritage and the Arts) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I was pleased to inform the House last week that the government has also committed more than $6 million to kick-start non-lethal whale research and other critical conservation programs in 2008-09. We contemplate a groundbreaking partnership in the Southern Ocean open to all countries to demonstrate that the central research into whales can be carried out without killing a single whale.

I note that the member for Flinders immediately rushed out once this announcement was made and said, ‘Oh, the government’s rushed this out as an attempted diversion.’ If anyone had been diverted, it was the member for Flinders, given that I announced the proposal for the Southern Ocean research program in a media statement in March of this year. The member opposite had eight months to understand the proposal, so perhaps it seems a little rushed in terms of his response.

Let me continue: the clear commitment that the government made was to give careful and serious consideration to the options for potential legal action against Japan’s Antarctic whale program. With that in mind, we have carefully analysed the information obtained through our monitoring of the Antarctic fleet last summer. As the House would be aware, the Oceanic Viking has now successfully completed its monitoring activity that it undertook at the request of this government. I am pleased to report to the House that this was a successful mission. The Oceanic Viking is now returning to the ordinary course of duties. It has a critical task patrolling the Southern Ocean for illegal and unauthorised fishing activities. But again, the member for Flinders sprang out of the box last Friday and accused the government this time of having ‘waved the white flag and given the green light to Japan to press ahead with the killing season’, as if this is the view of the government. As it turned out, the member for Flinders is always out of the box very quickly—whether it is jumping out of aeroplanes despite the record demand for solar panels or whether it is accusing us of giving up on whales because we have collected valuable evidence. I note that the Leader of the Opposition—

Greg Hunt (Flinders, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Climate Change, Environment and Water) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

No, don’t stop him; let him go!

Peter Garrett (Kingsford Smith, Australian Labor Party, Minister for the Environment, Heritage and the Arts) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Well, you’ll enjoy this next bit, I would say to those opposite, because on the same day the Leader of the Opposition had a completely different view to his shadow minister. This is what the Leader of the Opposition said:

The only way we’ll persuade the Japanese to stop whaling is if Japanese public opinion changes.

And I quote:

We’re not going to stop them by sending a ship down there … because the more you attack the Japanese the more they are now inclined to say, ‘Who are you to tell us how to lead our lives?’

So the member for Flinders is talking about waving white flags and the Leader of the Opposition is saying that monitoring would be counterproductive. Who are we to believe in this House—the former Minister for the Environment and Water Resources or the shadow minister? The fact is the Liberal Party did nothing of substance to end whaling for 12 years and they do not have a policy now. The member for Flinders should spend less time trying to get himself on TV and more time supporting this government’s resolute actions on opposing whaling.

Greg Hunt (Flinders, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Climate Change, Environment and Water) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr Speaker, I seek leave to table a list of the government’s promises to take Japan to the International Court of Justice.

Leave not granted.