South Korea's whaling backflip 'massive relief'

13 Jul 2012, 3:06 pm   -   Source: AAP
South Korea's backflip on whaling plans is a massive relief, Environment Minister Tony Burke says. (AAP)

South Korea's backflip on whaling plans is a massive relief, Environment Minister Tony Burke says. (AAP)

Federal Environment Minister Tony Burke says there is nothing "scientific" about killing and eating whales.

RELATED

Federal Environment Minister Tony Burke says South Korea's backflip on plans to proceed with "scientific" whaling is a massive relief.

South Korea announced at an International Whaling Commission (IWC) meeting in Panama last week that it planned to follow Japan's lead and use a loophole in the 1986 moratorium on commercial whaling to proceed with a scientific research program.

But Foreign Minister Bob Carr on Thursday said he had been assured by his South Korean counterpart Kim Sung-Hwan that Seoul had decided against going ahead with program.

"This is a massive relief," Mr Burke told the Seven Network on Friday.

"We were looking a week ago at them going back on the moratorium."

Mr Burke said Australia had a very clear and consistent position when it came to whaling.

"The position is really simple; there is nothing scientific about harpooning a whale, chopping it up and eating it," he said on Friday.

"And the claim that that can be done in a scientific way is rubbish and I am really glad that South Korea has decided not to go down that path."

South Korea's announcement last week prompted a swift rebuke from animal rights groups such as Greenpeace, as well as from the governments of Australia, the United States and New Zealand.

Whaling

  • Follow us: 
  • Follow us on Facebook
  • Follow us on Twitter
  • Follow us on Youtube