Japan to Smith: act against Sea ShepherdANDREW DARBY
September 24, 2009
HOBART: The incoming Japanese Foreign Minister, Katsuya Okada, has asked Australia to act against Sea Shepherd, in his government's first move on whaling.

Mr Okada renewed the outgoing government's call for Australia's co-operation against the hardline group because of its alleged violence towards the Japanese whaling fleet when he met the Foreign Minister, Stephen Smith, in New York.

Hopes had been raised that the new Democratic Party of Japan government might be more flexible than its predecessor in ending Antarctic "research" whaling.

''Our minister did not clearly state that the new Japanese government supports whaling, but I understand that his remarks were quite in line with the stance held by our previous cabinet on the subject,'' a Japanese foreign ministry official told Agence France-Presse.

Mr Smith stopped short of replying to the request for action, saying that Australia wanted to resolve the dispute through dialogue to avoid straining relations, the agency said.

Australia's special envoy on whaling, Sandy Hollway, is yet to meet the new administration, but it is understood he will travel to Tokyo in due course.

The two governments are still engaged in peace talks at the International Whaling Commission, with time running short before the next Antarctic hunt is due to start - this time in waters off the Australian Antarctic Territory.

The IWC talks, at a stand-off since Japan refused to drop its kill below 650 whales, are due to resume in a fortnight.

Meanwhile, Sea Shepherd's decision to base its Antarctic campaign in Australia is proving a thorn in the Rudd Government's side.

An Australian Federal Police inquiry formally requested by Japan into last summer's Antarctic clashes has turned into an ongoing investigation by the force, an AFP spokesman confirmed yesterday.

Australia told this year's meeting of the IWC that because the investigation could lead to court action, it was not possible to comment further on it.

Sea Shepherd's leader, Paul Watson, told the Herald from the US that the group would be escalating its campaign this year, employing its own water cannon on the ship Steve Irwin, and working with the fast New Zealand boat, Earthrace.

He said the Japanese Government was trying to persuade the Netherlands to strip the Steve Irwin of the Dutch flag it sails under, rendering it potentially liable to arrest. ''We still have the Dutch flag, and we expect to retain it,'' he said.

But, Captain Watson said, ''the position of the Australian Government with regard to Sea Shepherd is an unknown factor''.

The crushing loss of the LDP in the Japanese election cut numbers of the Diet's pro-whaling group by about one-quarter, according to a Greenpeace analysis. Survivors included the group's leader, Yoshimasa Hayashi, the outgoing finance minister, who is a potential future LDP leader, The Wall Street Journal said.