Hearing Rudd reminded me that smile and wave had a plan to stop Japanese whaling.
We are still waiting John. You are beginning to look silly.
Hearing Rudd reminded me that smile and wave had a plan to stop Japanese whaling.
We are still waiting John. You are beginning to look silly.
This entry was posted on Sunday, February 21st, 2010 at 6:30 am and is filed under environment, national, Pacific issues. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
Something needs to be done about the whaling situation. And why isn’t our government rescuing the protest dude?
Why would anyone rescue him? He is a grown adult who chooses to be there. His problem alone if he wants to get off.
Spud:
And why isn’t our government rescuing the protest dude.
Peter Bethune should be doing a stretch in a Japanese jail, he is no better than the Somalia’s that board ships. The NZ Government should be helping the Japanese Government to convict him.
“who chooses to be there.” I thought he was a prisoner?
I’m sorry, do you actually WANT any whales left in the southern seas? He’s no pirate, he’s just trying to prevent illegitimate whaling. At least he has the stones to do something about this.
He doesn’t deserve to go to jail for his noble cause. The government should step in and save him. (Spud shakes his head in disgust).
Somewhere a little whale waits for Key’s imaginary solution. He’s good at this, isn’t he, throwing out these ‘we’re working on it’ lines to placate the masses and then not following it up.
And if Key is up for stopping whaling then he should rescue our captive Kiwi, who was, after all, just trying to stop some whalers.
You and your mob when in Government could’ve done something about the whaling by Japan but also stood back and watched and now have the audacity to criticise. Just typical.
Hilary Clinton had a more important meeting, so Key didn’t get told what to say.
All the good work of the last government in gaining international support for a reduction in whaling is being washed away by total inaction, even excluding mild protest, from this government. If it isn’t measured in dollars smile and wave is not interested
The japanese fleet are not whaling and not researching.
They are fishing.
Just fishing.
And just like all the little fish they will will fish and fish til there are no more.
Do they research captive whale breeding/farming?
Ocean sow-crates, de-beaking, mulesing, de-tailing – oh the technologies we could share with them…
Here we go again, “you and your mob did nothing…”. Ignore the truth and just say the same thing over and over again and people might believe it. Not this time! The Labour government took a very strong stand against Japanese whaling in the sub-antarctic, and took it’s concerns to a variety of international bodies. But NZ, on it’s own, cannot stop them and Labour made no pretence that it could. On the other hand we have this political maestro called John Key who played to the gallery and said he had a plan to stop them.
Pick the difference Beepee?
Tell us Beepee what we should have done and didn’t do.
Bethune is not a prisoner,he got on the ship of his own free will, that he did so under cover of darkness and uninvited will most likely lead to his being charged with piracy.
I would think that the Japanese will take the opportunity to make an example of him.
Can he get off the ship of his own free will?
I would imagine the Japanese captain would allow him to leave the boat any time he wishes.
He got on the boat on his own,he can get of on his own.
If he chooses not to do so he will doubtless enjoy a lengthy holiday at the Emperor pleasure.
Where’s the proof that he can leave?
TV reports that he is not imprisoned or restrained on the ship.
Sea Shepard press releases con firm this.
The upshot of all this is he got himself in the position he now finds himself in.
He will now have to pay the price the Japanese courts will see to that.
Hey at least he’s doing something about whaling. Unlike Key.
“His problem alone if he wants to get off.” Man overboard
!
Okay, Sideoiler, I hope New Zealand provides him with the best defense that they can muster.
Poor guy
Poor whales 
Sea Shepard has already said they will pay for his defense.
I seriously doubt that this govt will contribute a single cent to his defense, and nor should they.
The court system in Japan is nothing like here, incarceration with out charge,court appearances with out legal representation etc are all normal occurrences in Japan.
Well I think it would be good for the government to chip in. He is afterall doing the work that the government should be doing free of charge and I hope he gets off the charges!
Spud
Government should be doing free of charge
That’s the trouble with the Left, they think it is free of charge it is NOT it is tax payers money.
It’s the way I typed it. Oops, I meant that Pete is defending the whales free of charge and that as the government should be doing that, therefore he’s doing them a favor.
By “that” I mean defending.
It is the same old argument day in and day out “the left never did anything about it” – rubbish. Just how many of you work for his (PMs) PR people?? Our lack of a stand in recent months over this issue is a concern for all of our democratic rights to be a kiwi. Once again, we see a govt unable, unwilling and unlikely to make a stand to protect the rights of one of our own – god help any of you righties if you end up offshore and in the need of our govt to stand up for you – because this is another example of what you can expect not to happen. Nothing. You voted that in, and you can expect the govt to never back you. Nice message for us all – its shameful.
ps you can all come flying back into the fray with “he boarded it of his own free will, it was not legal etc..”
The reality is he would never had needed to if our govt had made a stand when the whalers rammed and sunk his boat – the fact that he tried to do something about it (rights or wrongs) because of our govts inability to do somethings says far more about Pete than we give him credit for. It highlights what the govt is unable to do – take a stand about something impt and not to keep turning a blind eye.
If the government has a plan and if they really want to reduce/stop whaling they could have taken the opportunity to say (when Bethune boarded the vessel)
“We do not approve of illegal boarding of foreign vessels but again this is an issue complicated by Japan’s determination to stick to its line that it needs over 1000 whales for “research”. We have contacted the Japanese Ambassador and reiterated that whaling must stop and discussions need to be engaged in to this end. We have also advised the Japanese Government of our support of the Rule of law, and we will be keeping a close eye on its application in relation to Bethune.”
Rather than political speak for “We want to trade with Japan and they dont like us being nasty about their appalling research techniques which require hundreds of whales when 1 or 2 will suffice”
Did Rudd remind you Trevor or Idiot/Savant..?
Rudd. Radio. I do hat tips.
Great minds? http://norightturn.blogspot.com/
when the whalers rammed and sunk his boat
Who was at fault is unclear. I tend to believe that both parties are equally to blame, and they each have a history of behaviour on the seas that is far from exemplary.
Dont recall this much gnashing of teeth when Bethune ran into the boat and killed the fisherman on his last green crusade.
A court might say he has a casual attitude to the laws of the sea.
The law that he failed to heed in the recent collision was,big and steel will smash small and carbon fiber every time.
Trevor. Maybe you could have stood up like your party did at Muroroa back in the 70s and just have a louder voice.There must be more that could of and should be done and it not all revolve around politics. I dont really care so much if it was your mob or the mob that are in now THERE is more that can be done surely beacause we all know that their (Japs) excuse of scientific research is just bullshit. You are the people we look to for stopping this slaughter.And I ain’t a greenie either.
We made some very loud noises especially around the Commission. I, and a number of my colleagues, had long meetings here and in Japan where we were lectured on our position which was one of the strongest antiwhaling lines in the world.
Deleted. Repeat message and unecessary. Clare
9 years in govt saying you’d stop whaling but nothing happened, not a good look.
Pity Labour has to exploit the suffering of whales in this way.
@Trevor 10.51 – Damn right you did!
@Neil – I think they want to end the suffering of whales.
oops double post.
I think they do as well Spud but the real obstacle to that is the Japanese, not the NZ govt, whether Labour or National.
When Labour were in power they got support from National for the diplomatic road to stop whaling, there was a bipartisan approach.
It’s a pity Labour now chooses to go for cheap point scoring. National are continuing the very same approach of Labour. It’s frustrating but ultimayely it’s the only option.
If they were more straight foward solutions they would have been tried long before now.
It into “i care more for the whales than you” is childish and deams the whole issue.
@ CnrJoe: I understand the breeding of whales in whale farms does form part of the Japanese scientific programme.
The reality is, sadly, that even this would not find acceptancee from the international community, and the likes of the Sea Shepherds. I would expect they’d be out there vandalising/destroying whatever means the Japanese used to contain the whales, even if this was a vast stretch of open water.
There is a deep hypocrisy in this debate, and because Joe Meateater New Zealander (loves his fish and any other kind of meat) has the view that whales are somehow special (let’s say because they are mammals, suckle their young, and hunting them is extremely gruesome – however not much more than when Joe Meateater is out hunting pigs or game-fishing for Marlin) it suits all parties on the political spectrum to pour derision on the Japanese for eating a food they have a deep cultural connection with.
The notion that Japanese (who lets not forget are at the forefront of green technology) are some two-bit fools who would hunt a species to extinction, particularly when those activities are being closely monitored by a regulatory body (i.e. the IWC) is laughable, racist, neo-colonialist bullsh*t.
… but that’s not to say I don’t enjoy watching smile and wave break his word over and over
It’s not racist to be against the Japanese WHALERS – it’s not their race it’s what they’re doing.
We’d be just as angry at any group who was doing the same thing.
@Neil – We still need to save those whales.
And some will disagree, the protest dude.
Tim – You give examples of killing for food, yet the Japanese claim to be doing this for research. I too think that they Japanese are just looking to chow down on on some A Grade Blubber.
@Spud
First answer this question: If the Japanese were able to engage in sustainable whaling by creating a whaling reserve (not unlike say a salmon farm but much, much bigger) and they engaged in commerical whaling to supply the (fairly small) market for whale meat in Japan, would you be opposed to whaling in that context?
I think the majority of people would join the chorus of howling and incredulous outrage about the cruelty of killing whales. Yet, the vast majority of people have no issue eating any other farmed animal.
Isn’t that hypocritical?
Just because the Japanese government emphasises the research component to their whaling and it is plain to us that there is some whale meat being sold at a handful of whale meat restaurants/a fish market, we seize on the HYPOCRISY of it.
Does that justify some pirates ramming a Japanese whaling boat, resulting in a whaler’s death? Does that justify smile and wave scoring some cheap political points with a few hollow remarks?
I say we are just as hypocritical.
As for the racist aspect, well, I am sure most NZers just think they are taking the conservationist line (and would be shocked to think that they are being racist). However, I think even the tenor the criticism above (criticising “the japs”, their legal system etc) is indicative of the subtext of this whole debate – that we know better than them.
I say that is racist.
Your first question I’m gonna think about.
Methinks that if they’re claiming to be doing this for research then it had better research rathering than just chowing down with a bit of token research on the side. That being said, I fail to see why they need to do research at all. 
Research component?
I’m still not getting how this is racist. They are Japanese so they will be called Japanese / Japs because that’s their nationality.
Are you saying that we can’t criticise actions that we view as abhorrent, if those actions happen to be done by another race, without being viewed as racist? What is being criticised is the poaching and not any characteristics that apply to their ethnicity. And only the whalers, not the Japanese race.
I’m not too fond of elephant poaching either, some whiteys do this, but a non whitey who commented on a group that happened to be white that was poaching the elephants wouldn’t be racist in my view.
Japs/Yanks/Chinks – all of that “short-hand” has racist connotations I’m afraid..
I think it’s no coincidence that in 3 conversations where I have expressed “whaling-neutral” views the other person has expressed other culturally-negative views about Japan (e.g. “these are the same japs who were going to sterilise the male population of New Zealand!”)
Soooo whether we call it cultural imperialism/neo-colonialism or just plain old racism, there is such a closed-minded abhorrence to the notion of whale-eating in New Zealand that it is an issue of friction between Japan and New Zealand.
By the way Spud, I am not calling you (or any other strongly anti-whaling folk “racists”). I think it is important, however, to assess what underlies some of the strong sentiment that underpins these discussions.
And I would appreciate your views (and anyone elses for that matter) on the issue of sustainable whale-farming as a hypothetical. Is that also abhorrent? If so, why?
Get back to you on that, I’m busy at the moment.
I don’t think it’s about imperialism – it’s about the whaling. There’s not desire to oppress the Japanese. Be back later.
Are the Japanese researching sustainability of the whales, or something else to help the whales, or something different entirely. Does anyone know?
IF they were “farming” whales, and allowing wild whales to do their whale thing unhindered in our oceans, I would have no objection.
Another loser Labour !
The fellow who boarded the Japanese ship broke the law – if he had done it in NZ water he would be in jail. His behaviour as the skipper running the boat that had it’s nose cut off was outrageous – if in NZ waters hewould have been arrested toute de suite – deliberately manouevring a boat to interfere with another’s passage is not just dangerous and foolish it is also illegal. The Japanese master would I suggest have been quite justified in throwing him over the side on his illegal boarding. I watched that video of the collision – Bethune was 100% responsible for it, he made no atttempt to keep clear of the other vessel, and one could clearly see the boat accelerate forward just before collision. Bethune has made a serious mistake in getting involved with Watson who recklessly advertizes his contempt for legal behaviour (heavens he boasts of sinking vessels !). You’ll get no votes on this one Labour.
Come on Labour wake up !
You know I can’t understand all this vitriol towards the protest dude
I hear the Japanese rammed him. 
@Tim – Sustainable farming is NOT what these poachers are doing. It would be a step up from poaching for sure, but I would still worry about the conditions that they whales were being kept in and how they were being killed.