Nelson Greens

Spokesperson for the Nelson Greens, Mike Ward, will not be attending the World Council of Whalers Conference in Nelson.

Mr Ward said this morning that it had never been his intention to attend the conference.

Mr Ward said the brief conversation he had with Chief Tom Mexsis Happynook, as he handed over a request for the conference to support a southern whale sanctuary, confirmed his belief that a meeting would be futile.

"We are at one with the rest of the environmental movement on this issue," he said. "We believe attendance would legitimate a conference that threatens the world's whale populations as well as the interests of indigenous people."

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