Whaling: Australian court orders end to whaling

Australia's Federal Court has ordered an end to the killing of whales in Australian Antarctic waters, by Japanese whaling company Kyodo Senpaku Kaisha Ltd. However, the order is almost impossible to enforce as the court acknowledged the whalers cannot be arrested unless they enter Australia.

Justice Jim Allsop found Kyodo Senpaku Kaisha had committed numerous breaches of the Environmental Protection Biodiversity Conservation Act (EPBC) by slaughtering hundreds of minke, fin and humpback whales in the sanctuary since 2000.

He noted that unless restrained, the Japanese company would continue to "kill, injure, take and interfere with" Antarctic minke whales and fin whales. However he added, "Unless the respondent's vessels enter Australia, thus exposing themselves to possible arrest or seizure, the applicant acknowledges that there is no practical mechanism by which orders of this court can be enforced."

A spokesperson for the Humane Society International (HSI), welcomed the decision and that it would be a litmus test for the Rudd government's commitment to this issue.

HSI first launched legal action in 2004 but the case was disrupted by interference from the Howard government, anxious not to sour relations with Japan.