This Saturday, National Whale Day, I will be joining with many others from around Australia supporting a permanent end to Antarctic whaling.

I have always believed that whaling is a cruel and unnecessary practice that should remain firmly in the past.
Earlier this year we saw through Australia’s successful case against Japanese whaling at the International Court of Justice what happens when people take a stand together.
This means that this coming summer will be the first time in a century that there will not be whaling in the Southern Ocean.
Yet Japan has already stated its intention to design a new “scientific” whaling programme to start in 2015, which could mean whales in the Antarctic may still not be safe in the long term.
I am proud to have been part of the Labor Government that saw Australia commence its case in the International Court of Justice in 2010, a policy put in place while I was the Shadow Minister for the Environment.
Labor’s views on whaling are well known – we are opposed to all commercial whaling and are extremely concerned about the impact this has on the environment.
In launching Australia’s case, we also sought to hold Japan to its international legal commitments.
I urge the people of Grayndler to also share their reasons why they support a permanent end to whaling.
The International Fund for Animal Welfare has asked for people to visit their website or email their reason why whaling should be banned forever to nationalwhaleday@ifaw.org.