Greens challenge Key to send Ministerial observer to whale hunt

The Green Party is challenging John Key to send Murray McCully to the Southern Ocean to observe the whale hunt, after New Zealand issued a statement yesterday expressing concern that confrontations in the Southern Ocean will eventually lead to injury or loss of human life.

"In the tradition of Norman Kirk, who sent Hon Matiu Rata to Mururoa to protest against French nuclear-testing in the Pacific, I am calling on John Key to send Murray McCully to sail to the Southern Ocean to protest Japanese whaling," said Green Party Oceans spokesperson Gareth Hughes.

Mr Hughes was responding to the Government's statement on whaling and safety at sea, issued jointly with Australia, the US and the Netherlands. The statement, issued yesterday, called on the masters of all vessels involved in protest actions in the Southern Ocean to ensure that safety of human life at sea was their highest priority.

"The Government should put its money where its mouth is, and contribute resources to protecting human life and whale life in the Southern Ocean," said Mr Hughes.

"Given that diplomatic negotiations to end so-called 'scientific whaling' in the Southern Ocean have failed, the best thing the Government can do to save the whales is to ensure the safety of anti-whaling protestors, by sending a navy boat with a Minister on board.

"Protest action last year had a real impact. Japanese whalers cut their season short having only caught between 30-100 minke whales, far short of their quota of up to 935.

"As the Government has acknowledged, the Southern Ocean is an extremely hostile natural environment and human emotions are running high during the whale hunt.

"The presence of a New Zealand patrol vessel, with Minister McCully onboard, would serve as a restraint on all parties while signalling to the Japanese people our serious wish to protect these rare and wonderful marine mammals," said Mr Hughes.