The Australian government should send the Oceanic Viking patrol vessel to the southern ocean to monitor the clashes between Japanese whalers and anti-whaling protesters, the federal opposition says.
Opposition Leader Tony Abbott says the Oceanic Viking, which was stuck in Indonesia for several weeks after picking up asylum seekers, would be able to "work out exactly who is doing what".
"The Oceanic Viking ... as I understand it, is available to be deployed down into the Southern Ocean," Mr Abbott told Macquarie Radio.
"That is its main job, as a kind of fisheries protection vessel. It should be deployed to this area, it should be there to try to ensure that Australia at least has a presence in this trouble spot and is able to work out exactly who is doing what," he said.
His comments follow last week's collision between the anti-whaling speedboat, the Ady Gil, and a whaling vessel in the Southern Ocean.
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"You've got the Japanese saying that they're being harassed illegally by the protesters, you've got the protesters saying that the Japanese deliberately tried to sink a vessel.”
"If the Oceanic Viking was there it might be able to keep the two groups at arm's length, but certainly if there is trouble at least there would be a third party down there to know what's happening."
The ship might also curtail Japan's whaling activities, Mr Abbott said.
"If the protesters are where the whales are and Australia via the Oceanic Viking is there to try to keep the sides apart, maybe it won't be such a great whaling season for the Japanese," he said.
It was not the coalition's policy to pursue Japan in the international courts, Mr Abbott said.
"We don't like whaling, we would like the Japanese to stop," he said.
"On the other hand, we don't want to needlessly antagonise our most important trading partner, a fellow democracy, an ally."
Relations 'not under strain'
Meanhwile, the federal government insists its bilateral relations with Japan are not being strained by the whaling issue, after Japan reportedly hit out at Acting Prime Minister Julia Gillard over her handling of last week's crash.
The bow of the Ady Gil, which belongs to the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, was sheared off in a collision with the Japanese ship Shonan Maru 2.
Japanese officials said Ms Gillard's call for restraint on both sides would strain diplomatic efforts on the issue, The Australian reports.
Officials told acting ambassador to Japan Allan McKinnon on Friday that it was "not appropriate" because the Ady Gil was "conducting the unlawful rampage".
Acting Foreign Minister Simon Crean disagrees. "I don't think it is going to impact upon our relationship," he told the ABC, adding that Australia should continue to urge "restraint" over whaling.
