Peter Whish-Wilson (Tasmania, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

I move:

That the Senate take note of the answer given by the Minister for Foreign Affairs (Senator Payne) to a question without notice asked by Senator Whish-Wilson today relating to a meeting of the International Whaling Commission.

This was the second question the Greens have asked this week around the International Whaling Commission. It's no secret that the Japanese government for many years have been trying to overturn a moratorium on commercial whaling. It's no secret that they have been conducting so-called scientific research on whales as a disguise for commercial whaling. Everyone has seen this coming.

In Brazil right now, a number of meetings are occurring. Negotiations are occurring between many parties who have a choice to vote tomorrow on overturning a moratorium on commercial whaling. I'm pleased Senator Ruston has made a statement that Australians wouldn't tolerate a decision by our government to have any part at all in overturning the ban on commercial whaling—a ban, may I say, that was led by this country more than 30 years ago, by a previous Liberal Prime Minister, Malcolm Fraser.

The movement to conserve whales, to protect whales and to bring many of them—such as the humpback whale—back from the brink of extinction is part of our national identity. We used to hunt whales like other countries, like Japan, do. We have a history of hundreds of years of killing whales. But we turned our back on that. We showed global leadership through the International Whaling Commission, as did many other countries with a history of whaling.

We are proud of that achievement, and it is part of our national identity. That achievement—the emotional attachment we have to, the value judgements we put on, conserving cetaceans in this country—is part of who we are as a country. Japan know that. Yet they insist on thumbing their nose at Australia and pushing ahead with this very aggressive, very bold stance, no longer even hiding behind the fig leaf of so-called scientific whaling. They want to see full commercial whaling resume. That's because they feel that stocks have recovered to a point where they can actually sustainably harvest whales. We know we don't need to sustainably harvest whales. We should actually leave them alone. They are a very important part of a healthy ecosystem.

The questions I asked today were very specific. Why did Senator Ruston not stay the whole week? I'll of course see her afterwards.