Full text: Sandra's Lee's speech to International Whaling Commission

INTERVENTION BY THE HON SANDRA LEE, MINISTER OF CONSERVATION, TO THE 54TH MEETING OF THE INTERNATIONAL WHALING COMMISSION (IWC 54) ON THE SUBJECT OF THE SOUTH PACIFIC WHALE SANCTUARY.

Shimonoseki, Japan.

Mr Chairman

Nga mihi nui kia koe

Greetings to you

This is the third time that it has been my privilege as Minister of Conservation from New Zealand to present to the Commission a proposal to establish a South Pacific Whale Sanctuary to protect the great whales in their breeding grounds in our region.

At IWC 52 and 53, although our proposal fell short of the three-quarters majority required, New Zealand was pleased at the significant majority support that the South Pacific Whale Sanctuary did receive.

Mr Chair, New Zealand and Australia wish delegates to clearly understand that the overwhelming majority of Pacific Island Nations aspire to the creation of the sanctuary for our region.

This is confirmed by the Apia Declaration, to which I referred last year.
For the record, please also note the 2001 Pacific Islands Forum Communique, which states that Forum leaders reached a:

Consensus agreement to pursue the objectives of the proposal for a South Pacific Whale Sanctuary through national, regional and international actions and endorsing the statement that emerged from the Pacific Whale Consultation held in Apia in April

All Forum leaders were present, except the Solomon Islands.

I have listened carefully to the expressions of frustration articulated by some delegations in the debates on a range of issues to date.

We, the people of the Pacific region, have also felt frustrated at the failure to have the South Pacific Whale Sanctuary adopted by the IWC.

At least in part as a result of this frustration, a number of Pacific Island states and territories who are not IWC members have taken their own individual initiatives, as Australia has already pointed out, and they have either declared their Exclusive Economic Zones as Whale Sanctuaries, or have begun a formal legislative process to do so.

Since the last IWC meeting, sanctuaries have been declared by: