Extract from Philip Wollen’s speech at the fundraiser for Sea Shepherd. . . . . no punches pulled. Every year before the Antarctica campaign against the Japanese poachers I say “I hope this be the last”. After every successful campaign that shuts them down I say “Surely this must definitely be the last”. And why shouldn’t we be confident? In one campaign Sea Shepherd chased the whaling fleet 4,000 nautical miles out of the killing fields towards South Africa. In another campaign, the Nisshin Maru, a floating slaughterhouse, caught fire, and was escorted out of the whale sanctuary like a humiliated drunkard. Their rust-bucket, factory of death threatened precious ecosystems in the Ross Sea around Cape Adair. And these killers had the gall to blame Sea Shepherd even though the Robert Hunter & the Farley Mowatt were 1,000 miles away, sailing in the opposite direction! Earlier this year, they were blasted by the International Court of Justice in The Hague – and they promised not to return to the Southern Ocean. But they were lying. Each year the poachers have been humiliated ethically and bankrupted financially; They have been exposed in the international community as liars and frauds. The Japanese poachers kill whales they do not need; in waters they do not own; for meat they cannot sell; for a taste they do not like; And they call it “research”. Australian politicians have failed us too. Prime Minister Tony Abbott bragged that he would “Turn Back the Boats”. But he meant poor refugee boats at our North. Not rich poaching fleets at 60 degrees South. And why should we expect him to care? He presides over the largest land animal slaughter in the world – the wholesale, brutal slaughter of 90 million iconic kangaroos, who adorn our Coat of Arms. He also protects the ignoble and cruel live animal export scam. And he will soon read the last rites over the coffin of the majestic Great Barrier Reef. Modern “realpolitik” has taught us that cash is more powerful than character.
Posted on: Sun, 21 Dec 2014 08:46:46 +0000