Hon Murray McCully
Minister of Foreign Affairs
23 April 2010 Media Statement
Whaling proposal falls seriously short, says McCully

Foreign Minister Murray McCully says the proposed consensus decision released by the International Whaling Commission today falls seriously short of providing a realistic basis for a diplomatic solution to the whaling issue.

“The proposed consensus decision put forward by the IWC Chair and Vice Chair has not delivered what New Zealand wants,” Mr McCully said.

“The catch limits proposed in the Southern Ocean are unrealistic. The proposal to include fin whales in the Southern Ocean is inflammatory. New Zealanders will not accept this.

“New Zealand has always said that the proposal must offer significant improvement over the status quo and that any proposal will be tested against our commitment to stop whaling in the Southern Ocean.

“This does not meet those tests.

“We will be exploring the extent to which there is room to achieve an outcome that is significantly closer to New Zealand’s objectives, before investing further effort in discussing the IWC Chair’s proposal,” Mr McCully said.

ENDS

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