Bob Brown (Tasmania, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

Mr President, I ask a supplementary question. The response from the minister for the environment’s department includes this statement:

The Japanese Government expressed through diplomatic channels its regret that a small number of whaling images were released … and requested that the Australian Government deal with the issue calmly so as not damage the bilateral relationship.

Therefore, the government decided it would obsequiously refuse to release the full film of the whaling. I ask the minister: who made that decision? Was it not the minister for the environment? Was the Prime Minister involved? And why did the minister for the environment take five months to relay this information to me after the decision was made?