Chris Carter

The New Zealand Government is taking a passive role while Kiwi lives are put at risk and Japan's whalers get a green light to continue their whale hunt in the Southern Ocean, says Labour's Foreign Affairs spokesperson Chris Carter.

"Foreign Affairs Minister Murray McCully must show leadership in ensuring that New Zealanders involved in the protest against Japanese whaling in the Southern Ocean are safe.

"The sinking today of the New Zealand registered protest vessel Ady Gil while being towed and the potential life-threatening experience of the five Kiwis involved in the ramming incident two days ago highlight the risks involved in the growing confrontation between Japanese whalers and international protestors in the Southern Ocean.

"Mr McCully must ensure that New Zealanders can be confident that our Government takes seriously this escalating situation in the Southern Ocean, and is active in monitoring the situation and working with like-minded countries like Australia to ensure everyone involved is safe," Chris Carter says.

"The Southern Ocean is an extreme and dynamic natural environment. Weather conditions can deteriorate rapidly and water temperatures are such that anyone knocked overboard or on a sinking vessel is in extreme danger.

"Under the last Labour-led Government the NZAF was instructed to use our Orion aircraft to film the Japanese whalers' activities in the Southern Ocean and release that footage to the media. I certainly hope that directive is still current."

Chris Carter, the former Conservation Minister, also said that the new National-led Government has been largely silent while Japanese whalers continue to use dubious science as an excuse to continue to hunt whales in the Southern Ocean.

"Last year the new National-led Government didn't even bother to send a Minister to the International Whaling Commission meeting in Madeira, Portugal. This was the first time in 10 years that New Zealand was not represented at Cabinet level at the annual IWC conference. That absence was a clear signal that the New Zealand Government now sees whale conservation as a minor issue," Chris Carter says.

"John Key may have said fine words about the environment and climate change at Copenhagen recently, but Murray McCully's muted response to Japanese whaling shows that National doesn't consider conservation an important issue. Their response to Japan's current plans to slaughter over 900 minke whales and up to 50 endangered fin whales will damage New Zealand's respected position as a leading conservation nation."