As expected, Pete Bethune has been arrested after arriving in Japan aboard the Japanese whaling boat he has been held captive on since February 15th.
Pete Bethune is charged with piracy for climbing on board the Shonan Maru 2 after it collided with and ultimately destroyed the Ady Gil in the Southern Ocean. If convicted he could face imprisonment of up to three years. Understandably, his wife is concerned that Pete will be made an example of by the Japanese Government. She and Pete (who live in Murray McCully’s electorate of East Coast Bays) have every right to look to their local MP for assistance and support.
But don’t hold your breath. McCully says NZ will provide “consular support”, but surely his constituents in East Coast Bays can expect a little more than that?
It’s getting nasty in Japan. Pro-whaling activists yesterday protested outside the New Zealand embassy waving cans of whale meat, demanding the New Zealand Government punishes the Sea Shepherd activists, including Pete Bethune. And our government has been busy this week appeasing the Japanese government and the whale-killers.
But McCully has a job to do in East Coast Bays as well as on the international stage.
It’s time he gave Pete’s wife a call and did his job as a local MP.
I can’t see any reason to provide anything other than the same level of support provided to any other other kiwi facing criminal charges in a foreign country. Consular support sounds like what our consulates do under those circumstances. It’s not really a special case, anyone can see that Bethune boarded the ship illegally, in fact the evidence of intent is posted all over the internet.
Not all of us support Sea Shepherd’s behaviour, and frankly Greenpeace, WWF etc have overcooked their activism in my opinion (in the case of WWF it led to me cancelling my monthly donations).
Very few whale species are actually endangered, minke whales are estimated at least 650,000 iirc. What’s the problem with sustainable catches? Banning whaling just because some people think they’re cool mammals is not the same as fighting to save them from extinction.
Has Mrs Bethune actually approached McCully in his capacity as her electorate MP?
I hope McCully steps up and help this poor B*****d.
I think those protestors are disgusting 
@Inventory2 : Has Mr McCully actually approached Mrs Bethune as a local constituent?
The NZ government can’t do much about anything if an NZ citizen has illegally boarded another vessel and been taken into custody.
NZ is a lawful state, and if Japanese citizens commit crimes in places where NZ law applies Japanese people too would rightly expect their citizen suffer the consequences.
There are no special standards for being who think they are doing the “right” thing. The law is objective.
From reading the reports – he has been arrested for trespass. Something he (I believe) did.
Are you saying that labour agree that New Zealanders should not be held to account if overseas?
Or just kiwi’s overseas if they are protecting cute whales?
On this subject – please look at the history of Labour helping a Kiwi overseas – (although in fairness I have chased Key on this one also).
http://www.bringdylanhome.co.nz/
Mallard & co – I know you moderate my comments (alot) – but this one is a fair comment and it would be appreciated if you could leave the link there – any interest etc in it helps Dylan and his family.
Really marginal call biker – clearly off topic and not keen on Red Alert being used as a forum for custody disputes. Will leave it but will delete comments here they can be made direct to the linked site. Trevor
I think the guy should count himself lucky to have the services of NZ officials made available to him.
Lots of hardworking kiwis have paid taxes to fund this service and will be less than happy that it’s being wasted on someone who deliberately committed an unlawful act in order to publicise his own ends.
A number of MPs have posted recently words to the effect that the government should do what the people want. Let’s ask the public what support they’re prepared to pay for vis-a-vis this joker.
mallard – thanks for that – appreciated.
Oh c’mon he boarded (illegally) the boat, why should we help him he mad the decision himself he should face the consequences himself
Yeah, the people do want the government to help Pete the brave protest dude!
They see sense! 
Bethune boarded a vessel – possibly illegally – but only after the Japanese ship had rammed his boat and almost killed him and his crew.
For a minor act of trespass he can look forward up to a month in prison before he even gets access to a lawyer, and has had to endure numerous death threats.
I hope the NZ government makes some serious noise about this. But I suspect they won’t – just as they won’t join Australia’s proposed legal action against Japanese whaling.
What rotten luck for Bethune that Mordor McCully of all people is his MP.
George – “Let’s ask the public what support they’re prepared to pay for vis-a-vis this joker.” Great idea. As a member of the public I am fully supportive of paying or doing whatever it takes to support Pete. His actions were ‘unlawful’ but far less ‘unlawful’ than what the Japanese are doing. This man did not harm anyone. He did not hurt anyone. He did not destroy anything. He boarded a boat. Being treated like some bloodthirsty pirate does not count as justice when that is his only ‘crime’. This government says it believes in justice. Let’s see it walk the talk.
@Dominic, and besides, he’s a top bloke, who has gone out there and thrown a heap of energy into causes he believes in. I admire him greatly and wish we had more like him – far better than the usual whiny apathy that is so common.
He’s a true New Zealand hero. We don’t have many of his calibre.
“And our government has been busy this week appeasing the Japanese government and the whale-killers.”
under Labour the number of whales killed went up each year and I don’t recall them sending any frigates out to help the Sea Shepherd.
and what was the nature of Labour’s negotiations with Japan over whaling. You’re all being very silent on that.
true that Hilary
I am more than happy for my tax bucks to support him – good for him – he got off his butt and did something about it – pity the rest of us don’t have that kind of passion or courage.
ps @labrat – I don’t care if there are billions of whales out there – a kiwi stance on protecting the whales in our neck of the woods and providing them sanctuary, is as kiwi as being nuke free – and that value in our culture is worth fostering and protecting.
I’m curious, if Labour is really such a big fan of Sea Shepard – and not just using this issue for politics – did Labour give financial support to Sea Shepard, did Labour send the navy in support, did Labour guarantee the safety of the Sea Shepard people and guarantee they would be rescued from Japanese custody?
Perhaps there should be a fighting fund for him – those who support him can chip in, those who think he should face the penalty for his foolish actions can opt out. Fair enough?
He is certainly no hero.
Any mariner who puts his crew and pax in fatal danger is a total incompetent fool.
That he was responsible for the ramming of his vessel is undeniable.
I am not sure in which country his vessel was registered but I would assume that after the Japanese have had their go at him (rightfully) the appropiate authorities of his vessels registered country will have their go at him as well.
@George – I’d chip in, though I think McCully should help him!
Certainly Sea Shepard weren’t imptressed with Labour -
http://www.seashepherd.org/news-and-media/news-070210-2.html
and did Chris Carter accuse Sea Shepard of being irresponsible?
i’m a bit at a loss asw to about where labour’s new found enthusiasm for Sea Shapeard comes from and wonder how long it will last
Darian @ 5:53pm
If I committed a crime in Australia that required me to go to prison would Annette King (my MP) contact my wife?
I would very much doubt it nor expect it.
Bethune committed the crime knowing the consequences of his actions. If he committed that act with honour ( as reported by Sea Watch) he should expect no help from our Government with the same upheld honour.
what Labour are saying is that if you get into to trouble overseas then with them you might get special teatment depending on if Labour agrees with your politics or not.
But since when they were in govt that never happened with the Sea Shepard people it’s safe to assume it would not happen under any future Labour govt and this has less to do with whales and more to do with politics.
Correct Neil
The good thing about political blogs is that people do keep the blogs. One day in the future the bloggers musings will come back and haunt them.
Bethune is an eco-terrorist just like Paul Watson, who is one of the founding fathers of modern eco-terrorism. He was a former Greenpeace leader and left that group because it wasn’t radical enough. He then founded the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society to employ “direct action” tactics against the whaling industry.
After buying a steel-hulled ship, in 1979 he chased a whaling ship into a Portuguese harbour, then rammed it. “It was probably the most ecstatic experience I’ve ever had,” Watson told Oregonian reporter Jim Lynch. (Hmmm. Wonder what his wife thinks about that comment.)
Lynch notes, “During the past 30 years, Watson takes credit for sinking eight whaling ships and ramming six other vessels,” and Lynch quotes him as justifying the violence this way: “Sometimes you have to break laws because it’s dictated to you by your conscience, because it’s the moral thing to do.”
With his repugnant record of anti-human misanthropy, contempt for the law, violence against individuals and property, and encouragement of eco-terrorism, it’s only natural that Paul Watson would become a darling of the world’s liberals.
@ p entwig – And they will call it The Blogsard
@Axeman: blunt argument, “eco terrorists” would surely be those that slaughter the mighty whales, rather than those trying to save them.
@ everyone – Isn’t it the job of a local MP to support their constituents? Pete’s wife and kids are facing a hellish time and I would have thought a show of interest and support from their local MP would go a long way.
Sorry Darien cant agree with you.
If “Pete’s wife and kids are facing a hellish time”, that nobody’s fault but Pete’s, he should have thought about that before he boarded the ship.
I think the Japanese not allowing him contact with his family should wear the blame for that!
Ensuring he is treated well AND according to due process and Rule of Law is precisely a Government’s role. It wouldnt matter what someone had done IF there was a chance they would not be so treated it is for our Government to intervene and attempt to secure that. It is NOT about the NZ Government, in my opinion, trying to get him “off” the consequences of his actions. People may be confusing these separate concepts?
What cruel comments among those above. Peter Bethune hasn’t broken any law. He was part of a courageous organisation trying to uphold the international whaling law, and of course protect innocent animals that humans have no right and no need to kill or eat.
His small boat was rammed and destroyed by the vessel of foreign government. Fortunately, nobody was killed. When he went on board to make a citizen’s arrest (which was also legal) of the captain who had destroyed his boat, he was kidnapped. He and his family are New Zealand citizens and so of course the government and his local MP should be actively supporting him.
In the future whaling will be regarded as we regard human slavery today. Peter Bethune and the Sea Shepherd group are heroes just like those who opposed that cruel and inhumane practice.
@ Spud Bethune is in Japan now and he has been charged under their law, under Japanese law he can be held in custody for a long period of time without appearing in court .
He can appear in court and not have a lawyer.
@ Tracey he will be treated well and according to due process and rule of law but it will be Japanese law vastly different to the law here, and the NZ government can protest until the cows come home it wont make the least bit of difference.
The Rule of Law is universal, so the jurisdictional law is, to that extent, irrelevant. He will be treated well as long as the Japanese know the NZ Govt is looking over their shoulder.
It is also important for the NZ govt to ENSURE he is being treated precisely accoridng to local and international law (due process R of L etc). Whaling is a sensitive issue, here and Japan (for different reasons) and it would be tempting for Japanese authorities to ent their annoyance.
Didnt the NZ Govt protest the Cohens sentences even though they knowingly broke a law and knew the consequences?
@ Tracey “The rule of law is universal” You might like to have a look in a place called Zimbabwae.
In the Cohens case the “protest was over the possibility of the death sentence being imposed.
The Cohens new exactly what they were doing.
They should both have been hung, since being released from prison both of them have appeared in NZ courts on drug charges,and been found guilty.
If Bethune is found guilty, and it is highly likely that he will, I would think the Japanese courts will make an example of him, and well they should.
“You might like to have a look in a place called Zimbabwae.”
You’re using Zimbabawe as an example?
Come on, how could you vilify this hero?
I hope the world comes down hard on Japanese whaling!
Sideoiler
Zimbabwe dont even pretend to have a rule of law adherence, Japan does.
Of course it was over the death sentence but it was their law and yet we (Govt) protested it. It’s about Goernments representing their people regardless of iew to ensure they are treated in accordance with certain strongly held beliefs. IF Bethune has done wrong he should face the consequences BUT it is our Gots job to ensure he is treated fairly.
You undermine something of your own argument when you say he should hae an example made of himbecause that suggests you believe he should get a stronger penalty than “usual” by Japanese standards.
My ‘V’ key i sticking, I apologise
Spud.
Please read my previous post properly, you will see that I have used Zimbabwae to demonstrate that the rule of law is not universal.
Clearly the Japanese do not care what the rest of the world thinks,or for that matter what you think,and will continue to harvest whales, and so they should. Japan has a long history of whaling dating back to the 12th century.
I am surprised that he has only been charged with trespass and not piracy, Mr Bethune will not be coming home any time soon.
The man is no hero he is a pirate and his ecoadventures have already cost one person his life.
@Axeman Before you start screaming terrorist, at least lets have a look at the facts.
“Donald Rothwell, a professor of international and maritime law at the Australian National University, said Bethune’s boarding was not illegal under international law, unless he planned to do harm to the crew or imperil the safety of the Shonan Maru 2. Merely making a demand or presenting a letter and a bill did not constitute terrorism or piracy.”
If the whaling vessels came from the Pacific Islands or Australia would governments remain so apathetic? I suspect not. The Japanese government are making a mockery of us all. The least we can do as a nation is show Pete support at the highest level.
“and so they should. Japan has a long history of whaling dating back to the 12th century.” – Along with stoning people to death, punishing homosexuality and eating dogs, I find their whaling abhorrent.
And you are entitled to your opinion Spud but the Japanese dont care what any of us think.
They would if the rest of the world put its foot down, sigh
The whole problem with the left these past couple of decades is they have lost sight of what the left use to be all about – social justice. That’s why I use to consider myself a leftist, and have voted labour all my life.
Now it seems most of our effort is on waste of time causes such as ’saving’ the whales, gay marriage, and removing the right of parents to discipline their own children.
Wayne, your views are extremist. You can try again without resorting to such language. Clare
Sideoiler, it seems to me G Palmer may have hit upon a useful solution. Saving face is important, never more so than for the Japanese. They are painted very much into a corner with the demand to cease all whaling. Palmer’s idea has given them the option to opt into “commercial” whaling, almost like a clean slate so they can safely say that this is a win not a backing down. IF Palmer can negotiate a lowering in numbers as the trade off then it is as close to a win-win as this issue has come in a long time.
In the 12th century they didnt have motors on the boats, and they fed a smaller population, the 12th century defence has too many holes.
We also understand our ecosystem in minute detail and the loss of these creatures has a bigger impact than losing Willie of free willie fame.
What makes me sick about Bethune is that he mowed down a poor third world Guetamalan fisherman, while enjoying his rich boy, uniquely Western pursuit of adventuring.
He seems to have forgotten about this altogether, and we can only imagine the terrible fate of the family that poor fisherman left behind, in one of the poorest countries in the world. If Bethune had a conscience he would be spending his time looking after the widow and family of the dead man – not gallivanting about the high seas preventing other fishermen from carrying out their lawful duties.
Frankly speaking the guy makes me sick.
There’s more honour in owing up to your mistakes.