Some support the plan, while others fear it may actually help Japan’s case for whaling:
JAPAN will lease Australia’s prime research ship to study whale food, sparking Opposition warnings Australia is bolstering the case for whaling.
But the Government says research findings could actually undermine the case for whaling.
Japan will use the 94m Aurora Australis vessel to conduct research on plankton and krill, a Budget estimates committee has been told.
Opposition senators say Japan could use the data to back up its pro-whaling campaign before international bodies.
“We are actively assisting in co-operation with the Japanese, who (are) a scientific hunter of whales, their understanding of the availability of food source for whales in southern oceans,” Liberal senator David Johnston said.
The information could go to “people we don’t want to give it to”, he said.
