Wednesday 2 March 2011

Japanese response to whaling fleet returning home early


The Asahi Shimbun newspaper editorial of February 22, 2011 indicates that whaling is still being supported by elements within Japanese society, but the focus appears to be turning towards coastal hunts in the vicinity of Japan's territorial waters:

Violent acts of harassment must never be condoned, but the victims should not allow themselves to be pushed around and resort to knee-jerk reactions.

After repeated harassment of Japanese whalers by the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, the government last week called off a research whaling mission in the Antarctic Ocean.

Sea Shepherd's harassment tactics included bringing their vessels dangerously close to Japanese whalers and hurling bottles of hazardous chemicals at them. The international community must condemn such activities by this radical anti-whaling group.

That said, however, anti-whaling sentiments run high in the governments and societies of the West. Together with other whaling nations, Japan has for years asserted and defended its right to whaling before the International Whaling Commission (IWC), but there is no solution in sight.

The arguments of the opposing camps are fundamentally irreconcilable. The pro-whaling camp asserts that whales are a "utilizable resource," while the anti-whaling camp sees them as "wild animals that need to be protected."

The Japanese government makes a scientifically valid argument when it points out that there are species of "resource whales," such as Antarctic minkes, that whalers are allowed to hunt. However, the prevalent thinking around the world today is that there is no need to hunt and eat those whales just because of their large population.

So long as the opposing camps hold on to their mutually unacceptable arguments, no resolution to the dispute can be hoped for. Both sides must recognize that no single value system should be forced on the entire world, and try to seek a compromise.

Following last week's decision, the government must think calmly about its future policy. While planning a long-range strategy, we believe the government should ask itself this fundamental question: Is Antarctic whaling truly necessary for Japan?

Japan's position is that it wants to resume commercial whaling in the Antarctic, and that research whaling is a preparatory step. Anti-whaling nations have all sorts of reasons of their own, but they are united in their opposition to commercial whaling in any form, and they are not giving an inch.

Demand for whale meat is not growing at all in Japan, and the nation's ocean-going whaling industry is effectively dead. Given this reality, there is little justification for Japan's stated need to resume commercial whaling in the Antarctic.

The most notable compromise plan so far floated by the IWC is to allow coastal whaling but ban hunting beyond 200 miles of the coast. The basic thinking is that each country should engage in coastal whaling at its discretion. But the international community's majority opinion should be honored for whaling in the Antarctic and other open seas.

We believe this is an appropriate plan. It requires anti-whaling nations to acknowledge whales as a "utilizable resource." But at the same time, Japan should rethink its position and switch course, namely, to downscale and eventually give up Antarctic whaling so long as its right to coastal whaling is guaranteed.

Whether we eat whale meat is our business and nobody else's. And we tend to react with anger when foreign countries tell us we shouldn't eat it. But while refusing to bend to the tactics of Sea Shepherd, we do need to explore a new way of whaling.

Tuesday 1 March 2011

Barry O'Farrell and electoral priorities on the NSW North Coast


These problem are chronic and will affect tens of thousands of NSW families - many of them living on the North Coast:

BABY BOOMERS taking a seachange in their dotage face the prospect of widespread shortages in aged care, revised projections of the impact of dementia show.Australia will be 279,000 aged care places short by 2050 without significant policy changes, and hardest hit will be coastal areas popular with retirees, a study by Access Economics has found.The heavier than expected demand for aged care results from the failure of official projections to take account of the increased prevalence of dementia that has emerged from the growing number of people aged 85 and over, the report says.At present, aged care projections are based on numbers of people aged over 70.The expected growth points in elderly populations show that sea-change locations such as Port Macquarie, Tweed Heads and the NSW south coast would experience shortages of 2000 or more aged-care places by 2050 without a change in policy. In the Paterson electorate in the Hunter region, the shortfall would be just under 3000 places. [The Sydney Morning Herald, 26 February 2011]

TWO crashes, two dead, two injured, two straight stretches of road, but only one question: how did it happen? [The Daily Examiner,25 February 2011]

Erosion due to higher sea levels is also a key risk for coastal areas. In New South Wales there are approximately 3,600 residential buildings located within 110 metres of ‘soft’ erodible shorelines, of which approximately 700 are located within 55 metres of ‘soft’ coast. [NSW Parliament, Briefing Paper,June 2010]

So what is NSW Opposition Leader Barry O’Farrell focusing on as he begins election campaigning?

Mr O'Farrell on Thursday said that, if he wins government at the March 26 state election, he will take his fight against the introduction of a national carbon price to Canberra. [The Sydney Morning Herald, 24 February 2011]

While at the regional launch of the Coalition election campaign last Sunday O'Farrell endorsed the possibility that speed limits would be increased on country single lane highways.

That’s right. O'Farrell appears to believe that one size fits all. That on the NSW North Coast where we are on the climate change front line in many small towns and villages, where highway deaths are a constant concern and where an aging population is a big issue; ignoring the coming dementia care crisis, adding another 10k per hour to traffic speed and actively fighting against climate change mitigation measures will win over local voters in March.

Can’t you just tell that his focus groups are probably all in metropolitan areas and that the North Coast comprises very safe state Nationals seats this time around.

One of life's little mysteries........


One small cyberspace puzzle courtesy of Google's search engine on 25 February 2011:




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