Australia's Antarctic Territory is being flouted by Japan
The Antarctic Treaty
The original Parties to the Treaty were the 12 nations active in the Antarctic during the International Geophysical Year of 1957-58. The Treaty was signed in Washington on 1 December 1959 and entered into force on 23 June 1961.
The Governments of Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Chile, the French Republic, Japan, New Zealand, Norway, the Union of South Africa, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, and the United States of America, recognizing that it is in the interest of all mankind that Antarctica shall continue for ever to be used exclusively for peaceful purposes and shall not become the scene or object of international discord.
The now 47 Antarctic Treaty nations represent about two-thirds of the world's human population.
Article I
1. Antarctica shall be used for peaceful purposes only. There shall be prohibited, inter alia, any measure of a military nature, such as the establishment of military bases and fortifications, the carrying out of military manoeuvres, as well as the testing of any type of weapon.
2. The present Treaty shall not prevent the use of military personnel or equipment for scientific research or for any other peaceful purpose.
Japan has deployed military personnel on two security vessels sent to protect its Antarctic whaling fleet from intervention by the Sea Shepherd conservation group's flagship, Steve Irwin , its skipper Captain Paul Watson said.
The Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR) is the body responsible for the conservation of marine resources in the Southern Ocean. It is supposed to regulate the harvesting of, or research into, all living organisms that are found in the marine environment within the Convention that implements CCAMLR.
Protecting Antarctic Wildlife
Guidelines for visiting the Antarctic include ensuring that "wildlife and vegetation are not disturbed".
Visits to breeding wildlife are presently controlled by various codes of conduct which reflect the provisions of the Antarctic Treaty. These provisions outline, in relatively non-specific terms, ways of minimising disturbance to wildlife by suggesting practices such as not touching animals and keeping noise to a minimum during visits.
DNA sampling provides more data than can be obtained through opening a dead whale’s stomach. A series of whale scats gives a more complex picture of whale feeding habits and their internal parasites.
The Federal Court
The Federal Court in 2008 declared Japanese whaling in Australia’s Antarctic waters as unlawful under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999. Enforcement of the prohibition against whaling in the Australian Whale Sanctuary (AWS) under the EPBC Act rests on the shoulders of the Australian Government.
Any illegal vessels in the The Australian Whale Sanctuary, adjacent to the Australian Antarctic Territory, should find the perpetrators arrested by Australian customs for breaching Australian law. (Activities in the Australian Whale Sanctuary that may impact on whales, dolphins and porpoises may (?) require a permit - is this our Government's loophole for inaction?)
Killing whales or other species while in the Antarctic is a violation the Whale Sanctuary and the Antarctic Treaty. Any illegal activities should be stopped by our Australian Fisheries Officers.
However, Japan's illegal whaling vessels have been immune from such actions!
Japan's whale slaughter is internationally illegal, unlawful in Australian waters and their presence without permission is potentially dangerous to Australian citizens and the pristine marine environment.
The whaling factory ship and harpoons have been given de facto legality for so long that Japan's Prime Minister even believes they are quite within their right to be killing whales for whale meat in a whale sanctuary!
Japan's Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama has asked Kevin Rudd to rein in the Sea Shepherd activists, describing their actions as "sabotage". Years of diplomacy have clearly been unsuccessful and have fallen on deaf ears if they ask us to assist their illegal fleet!
Tradition of eating whale meat?
Mr. Okada, Japan's Foreign Minister, is wrong when he says there is a Japanese tradition of eating whale meat. A few villages did eat whale for centuries but the average Japanese did not. Shore based commercial whaling was set up in Japan in 1911 by the Norwegians and it was the American General Douglas MacArthur who established the modern Antarctic pelagic whaling fleets.
Japan does not respect our passion for living whales, our anti-whaling policies, our own whale sanctuary, our AAT, so why would we be expected to respect their so-called tradition of killing whales? There is no Japanese tradition of killing whales in the Antarctic.
Scientific results?
The Japanese need to show scientific evidence of what they want to find out from each and every whale killed in the Whale Sanctuary, and validate the research results so far! Non-lethal alternatives could easily be provided, making their slaughter obsolete. This would finally dispel their hoax of "scientific research" killing, and their breach of the Antarctic Treaty terms.
Kevin Rudd should do what he promised to do before being elected - to be "tough" on Japan's illegal whalers and stop them. So far we have seen nothing but cooperation with Japan! There can be no excuses for inaction if the whalers approach Australian waters.
Responsibility for wrongs
The Japanese government also refuse to acknowledge or respect our sovereignty of the Australian Antarctic Territory, or our nearby whale sanctuary.
How magnanimous that it is assumed that Australians have moved on from needing an apology from the Japanese for the 1943 sinking of the hospital ship
Centaur. The Japanese people of today should not be shouldering the blame for the events of 66 years ago. However, an apology is about empathy and regret for the decisions made by their leaders in the past, just like Kevin Rudd said "sorry" to the stolen generation. There is no dispute in Japan's actual involvement in the ship's sinking.
The Japanese government also refuse to acknowledge or respect our sovereignty of the Australian Antarctic Territory, or our nearby whale sanctuary.
What more violations of International agreements does the Federal government need before they stop their empty threats of legal action and take direct action?
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