It seems Kevin Rudd's push to be tough on a whaling issue is widely considered to have backfired. It's an interesting story, about how we nearly got Japan and Norway to agree to a resolution:
"there is inadequate scientific information to support an assertion that controlling great whale populations can increase fisheries yields".This was seen as a way of getting Japan to stop running the argument that whales were eating their fish (a very populist argument with no solid science behind it). Instead:
Kevin (or at least his delegates), does not play whale politics well, judging by this reported reaction:The amendment tabled by Australia asked delegations instead to acknowledge "that the great whales play no significant role in the current crisis affecting global fisheries".
Twenty-nine nations, Japan among them, could not accept the wording or the manner of its introduction. Although it passed with a majority of about three governments in favour to every one against, the anti-whaling bloc will not be able to say that Japan accepted it.
Japanese officials who had participated in an intensive series of consensus-building discussions during the week - at which Australia was also represented - were furious at the last-ditch attempt to introduce stronger wording than had been agreed.
"Australian bad behaviour has put the spirit of co-operation in jeopardy," said Hideki Moronuki, a senior official with Japan's fisheries agency.
"Australia had participated in the [consensus-building] process, they were in the room all the time - this is back-handed."
Officials from other anti-whaling nations agreed, one calling the last-minute intervention "despicable".
The Australian delegation here declined to comment.
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