Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has set Japan a November deadline to stop Southern Ocean whaling, or face an international legal challenge to its yearly cull, launched by his government.
Australia preferred to find a diplomatic solution to its standoff with Tokyo over the annual whale cull near Antarctica, Rudd said, but was serious about a threat made two years ago to challenge the hunt in an international court.
"If that fails, then we will initiate court action before the commencement of the whaling season in November 2010. That's the bottom line and we're very clear to the Japanese, that's what we intend to do," he told Australian television on Friday.And the New Zealand response?
Nothing. According to 3 News, we weren't asked to be involved in the action, so presumably won't be.
You may recall that in January John Key announced plans had been drawn up to end commercial whaling. What happened to that plan? Did Key tell Kevin Rudd he had it sorted? I assume not, otherwise Rudd would not have had to make his announcement. And the Key plan obviously isn't the same as the Rudd plan, because apparently we're not involved in the Rudd plan and our people don't seem to know anything about it.
Key's government appears to have little interest in saving whales. Key is more than happy to court publicity when it comes to saving kittens and puppies. But because saving whales risks the ire of the Japanese, he won't go there.
And his Foreign Minister would appear to be strongly against the anti-whaling protesters. Remember that in January Murray McCully criticised the protesters. He also said the following about a boat collision between a whaling and a protest vessel:
If people are determined to break the law and determined to kill other people on the high seas, then it is not the responsibility of the New Zealand Government or any other Government to send armed vessels down there or something of that sort to stop them.cCully appears happy to let all parties share the blame for the collision. That despite the fact that for a fibreglass vessel like the New Zealand registered Ady Gil to deliberately ram a steel one in such a hostile environment would be almost suicidal.
I can understand why we might be reluctant to risk all-out diplomatic war with a large trading nation. But our neighbours in Australia are prepared to take the fight to Japan. So why are we being so timid?
And why did Key talk about a diplomatic solution and then apparently do nothing?
Wouldn't it be nice if Key and Rudd actually talked to each other?
Our PM appears to lack vision, and prefers instead to muddle along. If he has strong principles it's difficult to discern what they are. Remember, he is the man who struggled to recall exactly what he thought about the 1981 Springbok tour.
So it may be too much to ask our Prime Minister to display leadership on this issue.
The whaling issue sums up this government. More and more this government is resembling the tired, cronyist and intellectually bankrupt National Party we threw out in 1999 than any sort of "new" National Party.
ReplyDeleteKey is the National Party's David Lange. He is just the front man. He brings a popularity the left don't get, largely because almost anyone with a brain dismisses his "aspirational" (as in achieving that modest Kiwi dream of the three B's) branding as a mind numbingly banal and slightly kitsch one for a countries leader to portray, without understanding that it is what most New Zealanders strive for and dream of spending their lotto winnings on.
Of course, if the chattering classes of the left were honest, thy would admit that is what they actually aspire as well, only (of course) with much better taste. And that is the problem. If they left could admit why Key is popular it could then get on with devising a strategy of attacking the utter banality of it in a nations leader... But that is for another post!
The real decision makers are Joyce and English. Joyce is the PR driver (don't forget it was he who matsterminded the divisive 2005 election strategy for Brash) and he is the archtypical, hard nosed, private sector technocrat fixit guy. He will be the next leader of National. Given his influence it is (yet another) damning indictment of the media that no one really knows much about him.
The over-rated Bill English (John Armstrong in particular worships him) is the one who has shaped the culture, aims and character of this government far more than anyone else has. English has come to government as if the ten year gap between Shipley and Key's governments never happened. He has brought the same dismal culture of the narrow minded provincial shopkeeper as we had under Shipley. McCully was an enthusiastic member of the Shipley philistines (and so was their chief online cheerleader, David Farrar).
So the question really is why are surprised at our governments non-action on whaling? Why would anyone expect a bunch of small minded philistines recycled from the 1990's and led by a banal money man and a private sector radio technocrat who created the cultural wasteland that is NZ's commerial radio sector to care about whales?
I would add these to Sanctuary's list of Nationals "greatest hits"
ReplyDelete* pro-emissions climate change policy (the NZ ETS)
* pro-big-money election advertising policy
* pro-mining conservation areas policy
* cuts to DOC's budget so it 'pimps' itself to business seeking to profit from commercial use of conservation areas...