The Untold Story Surrounding
Australia's Bid Australia's proposal for a South Pacific Whale Sanctuary, the center of the Like-minded nations' agenda at the 52nd Meetings of the International Whaling Commission, was the focus for not so genteel name-calling and political "mud-slinging" with tiny island nations from the Caribbean playing David to the mighty Like-minded coterie's Goliath. Like the Bible story, in the end, the Australian giant lay lifeless with the diminutive Caribbean David the victor. Greenpeace attributed the defeat of the South Pacific Sanctuary proposal to the solidarity of the six Caribbean nations. Greenpeace, International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) and other extreme NGOs were allied with the Like-minded nations in support of the Australian proposal. During deliberations over the Sanctuary measure, observers and delegates alike realized the Caribbean bloc would prove the deciding vote on the fate of the Australian proposal. When behind the scenes maneuvering to win over a majority of support appeared doomed, these same NGOs launched a vicious smear campaign focused on the island nation of Dominica. IFAW and other NGOs filled the local and international press with accusations that Japan "bought" the Caribbean vote with the lure of foreign aid. That allegation appeared to have credibility when Dominica's Minister of the Environment, Mr. Martin - who happens to be an IFAW Director - resigned after the votes were counted and claimed "there is absolutely no reason for Dominica to be held ransom by Japan in return for promises of aid." In fact, Minister Martin from Dominica, did not resign voluntarily. He was forced to resign by order of his country's Prime Minister because he had aligned himself with the extreme NGOs (such as IFAW) in direct opposition to his nation's policy of "ministerial solidarity", part of the British parliamentarian system.. The Minister of Environment's sympathy with the anti-whaling nations and NGOs was evident throughout IWC52 as well as earlier at the 11th COP of CITES. Absent from press accounts of the
incident were the facts that friendly nations behave like friends (they talk to
each other, support each other and visit each other) and that the main
recipients of Japanese foreign aid - India, Kenya, Brazil, Argentina and Mexico
- support the like-minded nations and the Sanctuary proposal, and almost
constantly oppose Japan philosophy at either CITES or IWC. In addition,
pressure by nations backing the Sanctuary proposal to silence opposition votes
of those states with clear economic dependence upon wealthy
"like-minded" governments went unmentioned. A case in point was the
not so mysterious withdrawal of the Solomon Islands during the meetings due to
open threats from Australia's Prime Minister and Minister Hill (as mentioned
elsewhere). |
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IWMC World Conservation Trust |