The Australian Greens said today the Federal Government efforts on whaling fall short and are likely to fail.

"The measures announced today are really only an updated version of what the former Government was doing. They are not acting strongly enough to stop the Japanese whale slaughter" said Senator Rachel Siewert, spokesperson for the Greens.

"The Government is still only 'giving serious consideration' to international legal action. How much more consideration do they need to give to legal action? There is a wealth of international legal advice already available that shows there are a number of legal avenues to take. While they are 'giving serious consideration' to legal action whales will be killed.

"The Government should be commencing legal action immediately" said Senator Siewert.

"The Government must take stronger action in other areas such as refusing to discuss a free trade agreement any further until the killing stops.

"The Australian public are obviously disgusted by the prospect of another 1,000 whales being slaughtered this summer. The Australian Government must show we are serious about stopping this disgusting slaughter".

"What is needed is stronger action and a commitment to ensuring our whale population is not hunted to extinction under the guise of 'scientific research'," she said.