Former Aussie Environment Minister Says NO! to Tokyo Olympic Bid

[Mike Oxlong]

Boycott Japan Olympics bid: ex-minister



July 15, 2009 - Former federal environment minister Ian Campbell wants a boycott of Tokyo's bid for the 2016 Olympics, in protest at Japan's alleged annual slaughter of 23,000 dolphins.

Allowing Japan to host the Summer Games only 300 nautical miles from Taiji, the Japanese port where the killings occur, would be a "travesty", Mr Campbell says.

"Japan is trying to pitch its bid for the 2016 Summer Games as a `Green Olympics' whilst just across the bay one of the greatest acts of environmental vandalism on our planet paints the waters red," he said in a statement on Wednesday.

The dolphin killing allegedly occurs every September off Taiji on Japan's south coast.

Mr Campbell was environment minister from 2004 to 2007 in the Howard government and joined the International Advisory Board for the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society in January 2008.

An anti-whaling activist, he rejected Japan's claims their whaling efforts were scientific, calling them `sick' and `absurd' in a 2005 ABC interview.

The Sea Shepherd Society says the Taiji dolphin killings have been filmed by the Oceanic Preservation Society for a documentary called The Cove, to be released in Australia on August 20.

Rio de Janeiro, Madrid and Chicago have also entered bids to host the 2016 Olympics. A decision will be made at the International Olympic Committee's meeting in Copenhagen on October 2 this year.

The (Melbourne) Age

[HWP]

It's actually kind of tasty. I tried it a few weeks ago in Oninawa. You all shouldn't be so closed minded. If you don't like it don't eat it. I choose to treat myself to some of the tastiest fish on the market. Enjoy it!

[Takechanpoo]

Above all, ignoring is the best way in this issue.
Nobody care what uncivilized Aussie insist unless a few Japanese react it.
Leave southern mad whites alone. And we(Japanese) just do what we should.

[sublight]

The Japanese PM never called for a boycott of the 2000 Sydney Olympics in protest of Aussies being a gang of obnoxious wankers, so why's Campbell trying to start something now?

[Midwinter]

The Japanese PM never called for a boycott of the 2000 Sydney Olympics in protest of Aussies being a gang of obnoxious wankers, so why's Campbell trying to start something now?

You're right, there are better reasons to boycott a Tokyo Olympcs, take the city's dense population for instance.

[kurohinge1]

. . . <rant> . . .

You're right, there are better reasons to boycott a Tokyo Olympcs, take the city's dense population for instance.

His rant certainly suggests he's dense, but it's hard to imagine he's representative of the city's population.

[Midwinter]

His rant certainly suggests he's dense, but it's hard to imagine he's representative of the city's population.

And there I was, worried that no one would catch that ]Above all, ignoring is the best way in this issue.
Nobody care what uncivilized Aussie insist unless a few Japanese react it.
Leave southern mad whites alone. And we(Japanese) just do what we should.[/QUOTE]

[IkemenTommy]

Above all, ignoring is the best way in this issue.
Nobody care what uncivilized Aussie insist unless a few Japanese react it.
Leave southern mad whites alone. And we(Japanese) just do what we should.

I agree with Take. Since when did Australia become part of the world superpower to have any influence on any global affairs?

[Iraira]

And we(Japanese) just do what we should.

Blame everyone else for our problems and then commit suicide when we realize that there is no one to blame but ourselves?:confused:

[Midwinter]

Someone's quick to hand out the red snot, their comment didn't even make sense. Mistaken identity? Seriously, next time don't hide behind anonymity and sign your name.

[Ol Dirty Gaijin]

I agree with Take. Since when did Australia become part of the world superpower to have any influence on any global affairs?

Wrong. The mistake is yours. The care factor dial should be set in the minus direction.
Quoting an ex "federal environment minister" that works now for the "Sea Shepherd Society" in "The Age" newspaper is only one step above interviewing a hippie in a squat for the Socialist Alliance.
So Take, the official line is chow down fellas.

[Yokohammer]

Wrong. The mistake is yours. The care factor dial should be set in the minus direction.
Quoting an ex "federal environment minister" that works now for the "Sea Shepherd Society" in "The Age" newspaper is only one step above interviewing a hippie in a squat for the Socialist Alliance.
So Take, the official line is chow down fellas.

Hey! "The Age" is a decent rag!

I'll grant you the rest though ...

[Greji]

Wrong. The mistake is yours. The care factor dial should be set in the minus direction.
Quoting an ex "federal environment minister" that works now for the "Sea Shepherd Society" in "The Age" newspaper is only one step above interviewing a hippie in a squat for the Socialist Alliance.
So Take, the official line is chow down fellas.

I could see him working for Sea Shepherd. Ex "federal environment ministers" make excellent anchors.....

[Coligny]

Above all, ignoring is the best way in this issue.
Nobody care what uncivilized Aussie insist unless a few Japanese react it.
Leave southern mad whites alone. And we(Japanese) just do what we should.

how much you bet dat' guy is a counter-intel officer from North Korea whose misshiun is to make japanese look like fucktards on FG ?

[Samurai_Jerk]

Why the fuck do Australians care so much about fucking whales and dolphins anyway? Everytime I read an article about this issues Australia is somehow involved.

[amdg]

I agree with Take. Since when did Australia become part of the world superpower to have any influence on any global affairs?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_Development_Index

[Ketou]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_Development_Index

The whole thing is bollocks...Japan is 8th for Satan's sake...

[amdg]

Why the fuck do Australians care so much about fucking whales and dolphins anyway? Everytime I read an article about this issues Australia is somehow involved.

There are many reasons, but here are just a few:

1. The anti-whaling groups have been aligned with the green movement in Australia for decades, and because there is a huge amount of support for the green movement, the anti-whalers have sort of been included in by default as a group who represents the same ideals (which they don't, necessarily).

2. Australian higher education institutions and executive government have for a long time been dominated by the left leaning. I mean really dominated by. Which means - well you know what it means - If you don't agree that lesbian vegans are the only people who are morally worthy of holding the office of dean, then, well, your prospects for advancement are not good.

3. Because of the large public groundbase of support (no Australians make their living from fishing whales - that I know of anyway) any politician can guarantee public support if they decry the horrible industry of whaling - it's a given. A no lose situation. There's really no reason not to do it if you're politically savvy.

4. For the older Australians, WW2 means Australia (and allies) versus Japan. So it's kind of easy for the uninformed to fall back on past feelings and view Japanese with suspicion.

5. And here's the only one I kind of agree with - the Japanese fleets come down our way to get their whales. I can remember a time when I could stand on a clifftop and watch whales swim by as they migrated from the south to the north. It was nice. But if the Japanese whalers have to come all the way down to Australia to get their whales, it's not really a 'Japanese' thing anymore is it?

[Ol Dirty Gaijin]

Why the fuck do Australians care so much about fucking whales and dolphins anyway? Everytime I read an article about this issues Australia is somehow involved.

But in your own language, why the fuck should you care?

amdg put it well in the above post and I sort of highlighted by noting the 'latte left' Age as being the news source. It's not a case of all Australians caring, but a noisy very public group of them pressing the issue. As an example, if Japanese fishers were doing the same off the coast of California do you think the people of San Francisco would be silent?

The other point of an ex-minister making the comment and not the current minister is another point. The current PM has made comments in the past of taking Japan to the International Court on the issue of whaling, but like a lot of the governments "piss and wind" comments of late when the figures and facts (trade figures, who would lose) come through, nothing gets done.

Personally I have no issue with people eating whatever mammal they like as long as it's not endangered. If you want a mercury boost, knock your self out. Equality in the food change. My only issue is the fact they are going half way round the world for their catch after screwing there own fishing areas.

[Yokohammer]

Personally I have no issue with people eating whatever mammal they like as long as it's not endangered. If you want a mercury boost, knock your self out. Equality in the food change. My only issue is the fact they are going half way round the world for their catch after screwing there own fishing areas.

Precisely! This is about 85% of my problem with the whole Japanese whaling issue. The remainder is partly the duplicity involved ("research" my ass .. and that's not an invitation), and partly the fact that it's being done in an area that the rest of the world recognizes as a marine sanctuary.

There was just recently what I thought was a very reasonable proposal to allow Japan to resume whaling in it's own coastal waters (which they're currently not allowed to do), in return for which they would stop whaling in the antarctic.

Quoting from a Japan Times article dated June 25, 2009:

[quote]"According to the proposal, the IWC would allow whalers from the four traditional whaling ports of Abashiri, Hokkaido]
That seems perfectly reasonable to me.

But it seems that Australia's current environment minister, Peter Garrett, decided that he wanted the proposal revised for reasons that I can't quite figure, with the result that a ruling on that proposal has now been delayed for another year.

These environment ministers seem to have a way of gumming up the works.

[Iraira]

I like it when I get red snotted by a nameless individual almost a month after I posted whatever I posted.

[Iraira]

I like it when I get red snotted by a nameless individual almost a month after I posted whatever I posted.

The effect of the phantom snotter has been removed (props to K&B) and I remain among the beyond repute elite.

[kurohinge1]

Some light relief and perhaps education:

The Gruen Transfer is an ABC (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) half-hour program on advertising. Within the show is a segment called "The Pitch", where two advertising agencies are asked to compete against each other in pitching something that may seem impossible to sell.

The two pitches relevant to this thread are at the bottom of this page under the heading "Which pitch is better at selling whale meat to an Australian audience?"

Apologies to ichigo partygirl but I also quite liked the two under "Which agency's ad convinces us more that we need to invade New Zealand? "