Australia Bans Japanese Whaling Ships From Its Ports - AFP

[hatrack]

Japanese whaling ships on their annual hunt in the Antarctic are banned from docking in Australia and should use restraint in looming clashes with protesters, Canberra said Monday. A fleet of six Japanese whalers plans to kill nearly 1,000 whales in the name of scientific research, while activists from Greenpeace and Sea Shepherd conservation groups have threatened to try and stop them.

Australia's Environment Minister Ian Campbell told national radio he was strongly opposed to whaling and the Japanese fleet operating in the Southern Ocean would not be allowed to enter Australian ports.

"They can only do that with my permission and I will not grant permission to Japanese whaling vessels or support vessels to use Australian ports," he said. "They are banned from Australian ports as long as I'm the minister."

Campbell also urged the Japanese whalers to shun the use of water cannons against protesters, saying confrontations during previous hunts had put lives at risk. "In the deep Southern Ocean, shooting a powerful water cannon at a human being puts them at risk of falling into the ocean," he said.

EDIT

http://www.terradaily.com/reports/Australia_Bans_Japanese_Whalers_From_Its_Ports_999.html

[acmejack]

1. Bless him!

The Japanese and their whale killing ways are inexplicable. They are having difficulty getting people to eat their damned whale meat anyway, but they insist on killing even more whales than last year. Makes me mighty thirsty for a Blue Tongue Beer!