Save the whales – John Banks
The proposition that South Korea could begin so-called "scientific" whaling is an international outrage, ACT Leader John Banks said today.
“Like Japan, it remains ludicrous that they believe you need to kill whales to save them,” he said.
“This thinking is as lamentable as it is obscene. It should be condemned and stopped before it even begins.”
New Zealand Foreign Minister Murray McCully has slammed a Korean decision to begin a whaling programme in the North West Pacific as "a serious setback for those who are committed to conservation of the species".
South Korea said today it will start whaling under the auspices of "scientific research", the same international whaling moratorium loophole used by Japan.
The announcement came at an International Whaling Commission in Panama.
South Korea said it did not need foreign approval for its action.
Mr McCully called the move "a serious setback for those who are committed to conservation of the species".
"The portrayal of this initiative as a 'scientific' programme will have no more credibility than the so-called scientific programme conducted by Japan, which has long been recognised as commercial whaling in drag."
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Comments and questions21
Good lord, I thought ACT was all for equality, so what makes the whales, the seals more important to planet earth than the Snapper? the Paua?" the Crayfish?
To be fair, he might want to save all sea life. Maybe cows too.
You totally got my vote
Wait a minute!! Are you talking Kim Dotdotcom here Banksy?
John Banks, please concentrate on the economic woes back home. Saving the whales (& other green stuff) is what the green nazis do best.
It has been a long hard five year recovery since the 2008 global crisis. Most of the businesses are still feeling the pinch.
sorry mate you got this wrong, all the nazis are right wing. Scientifically proven.
Q: Why whales are dying out to extinction?
A: Because they feel they’ve no porpoise in life.
sorry mate, but i think the bloke was trying to point out that Greenies are fanatics and not inferring that they bend to the left. like you.
I did always vote for ACT prior to the last election, when I did not bother to vote at all. John Banks moronic comments here confirm that I did the right thing.
No one ever said they are catching whales to "save" them, they are catching them because they consider them a part of the marine eco-system which requires appropriate study, and because they are also fair game, like fish. Get over yourself.
ACT voters should be intelligent enough to respect cultural diversity, the freedoms of others, and international agreements such as the whaling convention, under which whaling is perfectly legal.
What on earth has happened to a once meaningful political party...
Clearly, Banksy has never tried whale sashimi.
We need to find a species that likes the taste of the flesh of little yellow third-world heathens.
Sold
Finally Banks says something of note.
Banksy has a fondness for whales ever since he had his ego stroked by Kim Dotcom.
Banks must have been given the all clear to surface with a story like this. Who's got a Teflon coating now?
I certainly have an emotional attachment to whales and the approach from John Banks to the so called scientific killings.
BUT if Japan and South Korea wanted to make NZ look stupid just do a documentary about the slaughter and cruelty from helicopter shooting of Deer, Thar etc
It's called "culling of pests", for goodness sake.
In our eyes maybe but I dought the rest of the world would see it that way.
The images a documentary could produce would be very embarrassing for NZ.
Nice to see Banks showing some compassion, but I don't believe he is genuine, rather he is just headline grabbing.
Banksie has always had a soft spot for animals.
And I don't mean certain politicians.
Just read his biography.
But surely it is more profitable to charge people $100 or more to see the whales than to kill them.
Kaikoura built its economy upon them!
Finally, Banksie discovers the real porpoise for his return to parlamint.
Surely these whales are at liberty to exercise their freedom to be harpooned by whoever they like in the free market?
John Banks lamely tries to get the green vote one minute with the whales, then slams the RMA the next (see above) - what a joke...