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Australia, Japan Clash at International Whale Summit

(From voanews) Australia and Japan have traded barbs ahead of a meeting of the International Whaling Commission in Santiago, Chile. Japan accuses Australia of lacking the conviction to save crucial talks from “a state of collapse”.

Australian Environment Minister Peter Garrett has fired back, insisting he will not compromise on the issue of whale conservation. From Sydney, Phil Mercer reports.

The challenge ahead of the International Whaling Commission – or IWC – is to get pro- and anti-whaling nations to find common ground.

But that could be tough. Several countries vow to not accept any loosening of the whale hunting ban, while Japan and a few other countries, such as Norway, say whale stocks have expanded enough to allow commercial hunting.

Australian Environment Minister Peter Garrett says Canberra must stand firm and condemn Japan’s scientific whaling program.

Garrett says that Australia will not sign any deal at the IWC that might lead to an end to the moratorium on the commercial hunting of whales.

“Australia hasn’t come to this whaling commission to compromise at all,” Garrett said. “We are absolutely strongly of the view that we do not want to see the commercial exploitation of whale populations. We are strongly of the view that this commission needs to focus on the science of conservation, not on the science of killing whales.”

 

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