Japan's financial hold on Pacific pro-whale votes

[Stacey King]

ABC RADIO AUSTRALIA Updated 2 hours 32 minutes ago

The International Whaling Commission's annual meeting begins tomorrow in Portugal, and again pro-whaling nations' arm-twisting for support from Pacific nations will no doubt take place. This time, however, the gathering will have some of the heat taken out of it as a number of contentious issues will not be up for a vote.

Presenter: Michael Cavanagh
Speaker: Sandra Pierantozzi, Palau's Minister for State and delegate at the International Whaling Commission; Peter Garrett, Australia's Environment Minister

CAVANAGH: Lining up against each other are two of the main protaganists - Australia and Japan. Australia has been pushing for a whale sanctuary in the Great Southern Ocean and an end to Japan's killing of whales for so-called scientific research. This at times has strained relations between Tokyo and Canberra. However Whaling Commission members won't be asked to vote this time on a number of controversial issues. Instead a sub-group which has met several times already is trying to come up with something that could possibly be agreed to by both sides the next time it is put to a vote. This could cause tension between Australia and a number of Pacific nations which have previously sided with Japan.

PIERANTOZZI: Japan is one of the biggest contributors to our economic development. So does that mean that when push comes to shove and the vote or the discussion over commercial and sustainable whaling that Palau would take Japan's side in the debate? I cannot say right of the bat here because when push comes to shove we would have to carefully consider all of the circumstances surrounding the issue and make the decision at that time so I cannot sit here blindly and say that when push comes to shove here's what we are going to do we would have to consider all the issues attendant at that moment and make the right decision.

CAVANAGH: Sandra Pierantozzi is Palau's Minister for State and will be a delegate at the Commission's conference. Japan is second only to the US in aid to Palau who along with countries such as Solomon Islands, Tuvalu and Kiribati were accused of succumbing to Japan's financial backing in exchange for their support on questions such as commercial whaling and allowing the killing of whales for scientific research. Since then Australia has had a change of Government and Environment Minister Peter Garrett who will also be attending the IWC gathering hopes that the Pacific nations have detected a change in attitude toward the Pacific by the Labor administration.

GARRETT: I do hope that those Pacific nations who attend and send officials can recognise the significant and constructive role that Australia plays not only just in the region but in terms of advancing the Great Southern Ocean partnership and we are keen to work with those Pacific nations in their own marine environments on the kind of reserach issues that we have identified in terms of whale research as well.

CAVANAGH: The Conservation group World Wildlife Fund claims that a 2006 survey which included the six Pacific nations - Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, Marshall Islands, Kiribati, Nauru and Palau - revealed that citizens of those countries were against a return to commercial whaling.

Palau's Sandra Pierantozzi argues that research such as Japan's killing of whales helps determine whether whaling is sustainable.

PIERANTOZZI: People in the Pacific region and elsewhere need to have whaling for their cultural and also for their diet and we don't want to hurt anybody from what they have been doing and also based on research that we would like also to know there is such a thing as sustainable whaling so we can both co-exist with those who would like to not harm whales and allow other people to hunt whales for their needs.

CAVANAGH: Palau was one of several countries which met in Japan in April to formulate a position on the question of whaling being shut down. While there will be no vote at the IWC this time, Australia and other anti-whaling countries such as New Zealand are likely to find that their neighbours will give Japan a good hearing.