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

I move:

That the Senate—           (a)           notes the courage of Pete Bethune, the captain of the Sea Shepherd boat the Ady Gil, which was sunk in the Southern Ocean while trying to protect whales from illegal poaching; and

(b)

calls on the Australian Government to use all diplomatic channels to provide support for Captain Bethune following his arrest in Japan on trespass charges.

Joe Ludwig (Queensland, Australian Labor Party, Manager of Government Business in the Senate) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr Deputy President, I seek leave to make a short statement.

Alan Ferguson (SA, Deputy-President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Leave is granted for two minutes.

Joe Ludwig (Queensland, Australian Labor Party, Manager of Government Business in the Senate) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the Senate. The Australian government does not support this motion. New Zealand citizen, Peter Bethune, was arrested by Japanese authorities in connection with his boarding of the Shonan Maru II in the Southern Ocean on 15 February 2010. Australia has no jurisdiction in relation to Mr Bethune’s arrest. This is a matter for Japan, which, as the flag state of the Shonan Maru II, has exclusive jurisdiction over its vessels on the high seas in relation to such matters and for New Zealand, which owes consular responsibilities to its own citizen.

The government has previously made clear that private citizens have no right to board vessels on the high seas without consent and should not attempt to do so. The government has also made clear that dangerous and confrontational methods, including some of those pursued by the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, are absolutely inappropriate, including the throwing of projectiles from one vessel to another. The Australian government has repeatedly called on all parties in the Southern Ocean to show restraint. While we are opposed to whaling, we do not support violent and unlawful activity.

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

Mr Deputy President, I seek leave to make a short statement.

Alan Ferguson (SA, Deputy-President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Leave is granted for two minutes.

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

I thank the Senate. That craven attitude from the government towards Tokyo on the matter of whaling takes it to a new depth. Mr Bethune was captain of the Ady Gil, which was run down by the Japanese security ship protecting the whalers in the absence of the Australian and New Zealand governments on the high seas. The Australian government does have jurisdiction. All countries which are signatories to proper and decent behaviour on the high seas do have legal jurisdiction. This Australian government has failed to take action to implement its own signature at the bottom of the laws governing proper behaviour on the seas that make it illegal for one ship to run down another in the circumstances in which the Ady Gil was smashed and the six men aboard came within an inch of their lives being taken by the reckless and deliberate action of this whaling support ship. The Australian government, like the New Zealand government, has stood aside so far and done nothing about implementing its obligation to see that such illegal behaviour by a ship at sea, in waters to which we are the closest nations, is brought to book. So, far from Senator Ludwig’s asseveration that Mr Bethune was in some way at fault here for purveying rotten butter, the fact is that he is turning a blind eye to the smashing and sinking of a ship, with the clear possibility of killing the six people aboard, by a Japanese ship in flagrant breach of international law. This government should act.

Question put:

That the motion (Senator Bob Brown’s) be agreed to.