Peter Garrett's confirmation that the Government will not be sending a vessel to the Southern Ocean this year to monitor whaling is yet another blow to all those Australians who wanted to see some real action to stop the slaughter.

A full year after the election, and close to a year since obtaining footage of last year's hunt, the Rudd Government has still taken no steps to deliveron its election promise to support the legal case against Japanese whalers being undertaken by Humane Society International.

In Albany WA, the 30th anniversary of the last Australian whale hunt is being celebrated. But the celebration is muted by the ongoing hunt in the Southern Oceans. When will the Rudd Government stand up and take action on whaling?

Under the JARPA II programme of so-called 'Scientific Whaling', the Japanese Government continues to hunt and kill thousands of whales.

The Japanese whaling programme is a clear violation of the Southern Ocean Sanctuary established in 1994. The Australian Government has a number of options available to it to close down this barbaric hunt, and the Australian Greens fully support the Government in exercising its' rights under international law. The question is - when will the Government act?

Under the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea, Australia can apply for provisional measures to be granted which would immediately halt the Japanese whaling program in Antarctica for a period of 14 days, in advance of a full dispute being heard.

This is a way for the government to make good the promise it has been making that it is genuinely committed in its approach to halting this appalling hunt. The Minister can act immediately to stop the whaling fleet in its tracks.

The Greens will continue the fight to end commercial and 'scientific research' whaling once and for all, before our endangered whale species are hunted to extinction.

Read more:

• Rachel Siewert's media release on this issue.
• Collected materials on the whaling campaign