Posts Tagged ‘whaling’

The Green Party plans to protect marine mammals and ecosystems

Written By: - Date published: 10:35 am, August 31st, 2017 - 25 comments

In Government the the Greens will create a blue whale sanctuary and a local ecotourism industry – to replace seabed mining and oil and gas.

NRT: Spying for the whales

Written By: - Date published: 1:29 pm, April 26th, 2017 - 20 comments

I/S at No Right Turn: “spies are corrosive of our values. Its one thing to spy in wartime, out of military necessity. Its quite another to do it in peace, on your friends, for self-advantage.

Sea Shepherd v the Institute of Cretinous Research

Written By: - Date published: 11:55 am, February 4th, 2014 - 31 comments

The Sea Shepherd fleet and the Japanese Whaling fleet are again engaged in battle on the south seas over the right to kill whales.  The Institute for Cetacean Research’s spokesperson Glenn Inwood has claimed that the Sea Shepherd is totally in the wrong and the Japanese are completely within their rights.  But how credible is this?

The Japanese are slaughtering whales again

Written By: - Date published: 1:24 pm, January 7th, 2014 - 24 comments

Three years ago John Key promised sort of that he could by diplomatic means stop the Japanese hunting of whales in the Southern Ocean.  Given recent events it appears that his confidence was misplaced.  Because the Japanese are slaughtering whales again in our back yard.

A good time for that plan to end whaling

Written By: - Date published: 8:31 am, July 6th, 2012 - 58 comments

Remember back in February 2010 when John Key announced that he had a super-secret plan to end whaling? I’m sure there’s some real clever strategy behind why nothing has come of it so far and Key never mentions it. But I think, now that he’s called South Korea’s plan to restart ‘scientific whaling’ “abhorrent“, it might be time to unveil the plan. It is real, eh?

NZ hero gets suspended sentence

Written By: - Date published: 10:37 am, July 8th, 2010 - 72 comments

Pete Bethune has had his sentence for bogus charges laid by Japanese whaling interests suspended. My warm congratulations to Pete and his family. They’ve suffered a lot of distress over the past few months as Japanese extremists called for Bethune’s execution – all because he dared to hold Japanese whalers to account for illegally killing […]

Aspiration and absurdity

Written By: - Date published: 1:28 pm, July 4th, 2010 - 7 comments

John Key’s government has had many “aspirational goals”. One of them was a secret plan to end whaling. With the recent collapse of the international whaling negotiations in Morocco that plan, if it ever really existed, has failed. In response, Foreign Minister Murray McCully takes the politics of aspiration to a whole new, some would say absurd, level.

Commercial whaling plan to be announced

Written By: - Date published: 9:15 am, April 23rd, 2010 - 11 comments

A deal to re-introduce commercial whaling is about to be announced. Anti-whaling groups are organising a snap protest at Parliament, today at 12. Be there. Japan has agreed to lower its ‘quotas’. But since it never kills its full quotas this will not save a single whale. Key will proclaim himself saviour of the whales. The reality is he is legitimising the slaughter and saving nothing.

NZ hero still prisoner of the Japanese State

Written By: - Date published: 8:35 am, April 18th, 2010 - 100 comments

Pete Bethune is one of New Zealand’s heroes. He’s been a successful entrepreneur and gone on to use his wealth to fight the big guys on the grounds of principle. As skipper of the New Zealand flagged hi-tech boat Earthrace, his circumnavigation attempts showcased kiwi ingenuity to the world and demonstrated the value of bio-fuels to […]

Whaling comic

Written By: - Date published: 10:52 am, April 14th, 2010 - 3 comments

Have you heard of Cyanide and Happiness? A web-comic that walks the line of funny and too far. They have an annual ‘depressing comics’ week. No punch lines. Given our Prime Minister’s aim to restore commercial whaling and the anti-whalers’ success in blocking the Japs from half their target of kills, thought this one would be appropriate [full comic]

Key accidentally calls open season on whales

Written By: - Date published: 12:29 pm, April 13th, 2010 - 34 comments

We know John Key made up his commercial whaling policy off the cuff. His recklessness has left our allies aghast. Now things are really getting out of control. Korea has said that they want in on commercial whaling too. Key’s declared open season on whales. This is what you get from a government that has no vision, no plan, and no understanding of complex issues.

Nats all at sea on whaling

Written By: - Date published: 9:18 pm, March 18th, 2010 - 14 comments

In Kaikoura, John Key said commercial whaling “might be acceptable if it was acceptable to others”. You gotta love the leadership there. But you’ve also got to question what kind of two-faced game the Nats are playing because in the House, Murray McCully said precisely the opposite – that the Government opposes commercial whaling.

Whaling proposal not realism, it’s a sell-out

Written By: - Date published: 9:00 am, March 10th, 2010 - 65 comments

John Armstrong has chucked John Key’s promise to end whaling down the memory hole and, instead, comes out swinging against those who don’t want to give up the commercial whaling ban: “the plan [will] allow commercial whaling for a 10-year period, but with big cuts in the numbers killed each year. This plan would buy […]

Labour and Greens “stealthy” on whaling

Written By: - Date published: 12:05 pm, March 8th, 2010 - 43 comments

You’ve really got to hand it to the Greens and Labour. They have completely defied expectations on the whaling issue. See the simple option that most political parties would go for would be to be seen to stand by their principles – loud and proud. But the Greens and Labour are too clever for that. Instead, they’ve cunningly said next to nothing!

Outrage at Key’s pro-whaling plan

Written By: - Date published: 8:42 am, March 8th, 2010 - 55 comments

The Key Government has, without public consultation or mandate, thrown decades of political consensus in the trash. They are proposing the reintroduction commercial whaling. The Nats say this will reduce the number of whales killed but no-one is buying that. When did the commercialisation of a resource ever lead to a reduction in its use?

Key supports return to commercial whaling

Written By: - Date published: 12:23 pm, March 6th, 2010 - 46 comments

In January, we were told that John Key had some secret plan to end whaling. Now, we learn that Key wants to let commercial whaling resume. Since 1986, commercial whaling has been banned by international law. Japan carries out its whaling under the guise of scientific research. Key promised that he was working on ending […]

Wee gripes: Cop attacks, whaling, dr shortage

Written By: - Date published: 1:15 pm, February 22nd, 2010 - 26 comments

No chance some gang f#ckwits would be deterred by longer sentences.
What happened to that plan of Key’s to end whaling?
How do we get a high wage economy when National opposes each and every wage rise?

Quick thoughts

Written By: - Date published: 11:06 am, February 8th, 2010 - 36 comments

It’s obvious to anyone with a brain that a government that spends half its time on holiday and the rest on PR stunts is never going to get New Zealand to catch Australia by 2025 but having the Reserve Bank Governor say its impossible, that’s hugely embarrassing. Of course, Key is refusing to acknowledge the […]

The ‘whaling plan’

Written By: - Date published: 10:01 am, January 14th, 2010 - 47 comments

Govt drafts deal to end whaling in Antarctica – Herald Key plan to end Southern Ocean whaling – Stuff That sounds like a real break-through, I thought. What could this deal/plan be? I watched the full press conference here: “New Zealand has been working very hard to try and find [please, people, the phrase is […]

Bye bye independent foreign policy

Written By: - Date published: 2:37 pm, January 13th, 2010 - 24 comments