Australia has more "ambition" than to settle for a compromise deal that would give whaling nations new rights to hunt, Environment Protection Minister Peter Garrett says.
The International Whaling Commission's meeting in Morocco has been suspended on its opening day and sent behind closed doors in a bid to reach agreement on a deal that would give Japan, Iceland and Norway new commercial whaling rights, in return for a reduced kill.
Mr Garrett said Australia would continue to engage constructively in the meeting, but found the development "worrying".
"Ministers will talk but this is an unusual, worrying process that the acting chair has put into play," he told ABC Radio on Tuesday.
The compromises on offer at the meeting were not acceptable to Australia and a number of other member nations.
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"More importantly, they don't go to the root issues that this IWC (meeting) must confront."
Attempts by anti-whaling nations, such as New Zealand, to try to accommodate the compromise were "concerning", Mr Garrett said.
He plans to meet delegates from South American nations that had been supportive of Australia's efforts when he arrived in Agadir.
"A compromise ... had been supported by some countries on the basis that some compromise was better than nothing," Mr Garrett said.
"Australia doesn't take that view, we have more ambition in relation to this matter, and I'm really confident that there'll be some support around the table for our views."
