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SYDNEY : Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd Sunday said the threat of diplomatic action from Tokyo would not stop his government from gathering evidence against Japanese whalers to help stop the slaughter of the animals.
Japan said Friday it would complain to Canberra after the government released graphic pictures taken by an Australian Customs ship in Antarctic waters of whaling operations.
But Rudd said the government had a responsibility to gather evidence on the whalers which could potentially be used to stop the hunt.
"No, we think it's the right course of action to collect that evidence," Rudd told the Nine Network.
"And the second part of the process is then to accumulate that evidence with a view to forming a decision about whether it's winnable to proceed with a legal case before either the international court of justice or the relevant tribunal of the law of the sea.
"I know this will be a bit rocky, I understand that, but we have a responsibility here as well."
Australia has led international opposition to Japan's plan to kill 1,000 whales this year.
An international moratorium bans the slaughter of whales for commercial purposes but Japan exploits a loophole which allows the animals to be killed for scientific research.
Rudd, who has ordered a customs vessel to follow the whalers to collect evidence, said Australia and Japan had a "first-class" diplomatic relationship which stretched back at least five decades.
"But you know something? Calling commercial whaling scientific whaling is not right," he said.
Rudd said there was "an overwhelming series of bonds and ties" between the two countries and noted that Japan was a generous donor to developing nations.
"I mean, Japan is doing some wonderful things around the world," Rudd said. "We just have a disagreement on this."
Australian media last week prominently aired footage of harpooned whales being dragged onto a Japanese ship.
Japan's Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Minister Masatoshi Wakabayashi said the release of the images went against an agreement between the countries to handle the matter "calmly."
"We will express our regret about it and call on them through diplomatic channels to act calmly," he said.
- AFP /ls
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