The 'promise' to use Australian 'assets' to film Japanese Whalers engaged in legal practice has been exposed as a lie. The contractor only sought approval yesterday. With time taken for the independent Civil Aviation Safety Authority to give its' permission, the 'assets' may not start filming until after the whaling season is over.
Furthermore, the intended filming is not expected to be independent flights over the Japanese vessels, but possible diversions of regular flights, possibly once a week. If the position of the Japanese vessels are known, and if they are close to Australian waters.
So how does Rudd back away from a stupid promise?
Whale watch pledge 'a sham'
ReplyDeleteBy Ean Higgins and Steve Creedy
THE Rudd Government's commitment to stop whaling has been condemned as a sham, following the revelation that the company that will conduct aerial surveillance of the Japanese fleet sought approval to do so only yesterday.
As the time required to win clearance from the Civil Aviation Safety Authority is uncertain, the spy operation may not be approved until after the summer whaling season has finished.
"The process has started but it's only just started and there will be a lot of issues that have got to be identified, discussed and addressed," CASA spokesman Peter Gibson said.
It has also been established that the company that runs the A-319 aircraft, Skytraders, does not plan to conduct independent missions to find and track the Japanese whaling fleet in the Southern Ocean.
Rather, Skytraders chief executive Norman Mackay said the company's plane would run "diversions" while on once-a-week scheduled flights between Hobart and Casey Station in Antarctica.
This approach would limit the surveillance to a brief fly-over, and only if the position of the Japanese fleet were known and close enough to the Hobart-Antarctica route.
The Government was stung by reports revealing that despite Foreign Minister Stephen Smith's promise on December 19 that the ship tasked with monitoring the fleet, Oceanic Viking, would sail within "a few days", it was still in Fremantle.
Mr Smith, Environment Minister Peter Garrett and Home Affairs Minister Bob Debus issued a joint statement trying to hose down the row by saying there was plenty of time to conduct the operation.
"In previous years, the Japanese whale hunt has commenced in December and has continued until late February or early March," the ministers said.
"The Oceanic Viking will be deployed for up to 20 days, a significant portion of the current whale-hunting season."
Critics said the reality of the operation was far less ambitious and determined than the impression provided by Mr Smith and Mr Garrett last month.
Then, Mr Smith spoke of sea and aerial surveillance "for the purposes of taking photographic and video evidence to use in an international legal case".
Greens senator Rachel Siewert said the latest disclosures proved the Government's promises were hollow rhetoric. "They wanted to come out heavy, to be seen to be doing something, and they have not followed through," she said.
Opposition environment spokesman Greg Hunt said the Government had broken its election promises and "also sent a message to the Japanese that we're not serious, that we're not a strong Government, and that it was all just domestic posturing".
Greenpeace spokesman Rob Nicoll said Oceanic Viking's presence in the region would probably deter Japan from targeting endangered whale species.
Mr Debus's spokesman, Alex Cramb, did not answer questions about the A-319 and Mr Smith's spokesman, Andrew Dempster, did not say whether the Government knew where the whaling fleet was.