The Australian Greens are calling on the Federal Government to make photographic and video evidence collected during the Oceanic Viking operation available to HSI.

"If the government now has the evidence needed to mount a legal case against Japanese whaling, then there is a moral imperative for them to release it to support the current court case being fought on our behalf by HSI," said Senator Rachel Siewert today.

The Australian Government are not doing enough to stop whales from being slaughtered the Australian Greens said today.

"After talking up their response, the new Labor Government have done little more than the previous Howard government to tackle the whale slaughter," said Greens spokesperson Senator Rachel Siewert.

"The Oceanic Viking still hasn't left port in Fremantle and the spotting plane that is supposed to document the whale slaughter has not even been registered for use yet."

Greens leader Bob Brown today filed papers in the High Court in Hobart seeking leave to overturn a Federal Court decision permitting logging in Tasmania's Wielangta Forest.

In December 2006 Justice Steve Marshall ruled that logging in the 10,000 Hectare Wielangta Forest was illegal because it threatened three endangered species, the Tasmanian Wedge-tailed Eagle, the Wielangta Stag Beetle and the Swift Parrot. However, in November 2007 Forestry Tasmania was successful before the full bench of the Federal Court in having this ruling overturned.

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 Howard government could have prevented Japan's whaling fleet from embarking on yet another whale killing spree with more determination action to back up its failed diplomacy, Senator Rachel Siewert said today.

The Japanese whaling fleet set out for Antarctica with plans to kill another 1,000 whales, including 50 humpback and 50 fin whales.

"The Australian Greens want to see an immediate end to the export of live animals for consumption," said spokesperson for animals Senator Rachel Siewert.

"We have seen organisations such as the RSPCA, Animals Australia and countless more demand that the federal government end live exports immediately," said Senator Siewert.

According to Animals Australia, in 2006 approximately 35,000 sheep and 1,000 cattle died. In 2007, 17,000 sheep and 362 cattle have died to 30 June.

The later the election goes, the closer we get to the start of the Japanese whaling season ... and the more the Coalition Government's failure to stop even one whale from being slaughtered will be brought into focus.

"Not only is the Coalition Government not prepared to take real action to prevent Japan hunting this season, they are opposing the Humane Society International's (HSI) attempt to secure a Federal Court injunction to stop the hunt" said Senator Rachel Siewert, the Greens spokesperson on the marine environment today.

With corals newly added to the IUCN Red List of threatened and endangered species, The Australian Greens are backing the call by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) to declare the Coral Sea a marine protected area.

The Government needs to implement effective management and protection of this globally significant region. This region is virtually unprotected, and is facing immediate pressures from legal and illegal fishing, as well as long term impacts from climate change.

"The Australian Government is about to embarrass us internationally through its shameful attempt to downgrade a United States proposal to end the trade in sawfish to help ensure their survival," said Greens spokesperson on Fisheries, Senator Rachel Siewert today.  

"The proposal to downgrade the trade in Sawfish is scheduled to be debated at the UN conference on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) in The Hague today."

"Japan's statement that it intends to start slaughtering humpback whales in our southern ocean is a direct threat to a burgeoning Australian tourism industry," said Senator Rachel Siewert today.

"This is a call to action to the Australian Government. The Government hasn't been prepared to take legal action to stop the whale slaughter on environmental or humanitarian grounds and the Japanese have continued to up the ante."

"Now that this escalation is threatening our growing eco-tourism industry, will Malcolm Turnbull finally be prepared to act?"