Palmer warns of pitfalls in whaling case

Sir Geoffrey Palmer talking during the 2010 ALAC conference held in Manukau. Photo / Steven McNicholl

Outgoing International Whaling Commission chairman Sir Geoffrey Palmer has warned the Government to be cautious about joining Australia in taking Japan to the International Court of Justice over whaling.

Sir Geoffrey made his first public comment on the legal action during a speech to mark the end of his eight years of service as New Zealand's representative on the commission.

Sir Geoffrey said Australia's court case could do more harm than good and could end any chance reducing whaling through diplomatic efforts.

The Government delayed deciding whether to join Australia's case while Sir Geoffrey led an attempt to persuade Japan, Norway and Iceland to agree to limited commercial whaling which would gradually scale down.

Those efforts have stalled but Sir Geoffrey warned the Government to tread with care before joining Australia, despite significant public pressure for it to do so.

"My advice to the New Zealand Government is to be cautious, because this case does have the capacity to do more harm than good."

Sir Geoffrey later said he chose his words with care because he did not want to cause trouble with Australia.

"I advised the Government to be careful or prudent about it because the case has a considerable number of hazards in it and we ought to be aware of those before we embark on it.

"The consequences if the case is lost means that there will be nothing to negotiate about."

He said a loss at the international court would leave little hope for future compromise because the court decision would effectively sanction Japan's current whaling activities.

A spokeswoman for Foreign Affairs Minister Murray McCully said the Government was still considering whether to join Australia's action, which was likely to go before the court next year.

Sir Geoffrey was criticised by many when he proposed the diplomatic solution because it was seen as a backdown from the strict stance against commercial whaling.

But he stuck by his decision, saying the moratorium was effectively meaningless and his solution would mean only 1500 whales were killed each year instead of the present 3000.