Australia, NZ rap Japan's IWC pullout, commercial whaling restart

Australia and New Zealand expressed disappointment Wednesday with Japan's decision to withdraw from the International Whaling Commission and resume commercial whaling, while welcoming its intention to stop whaling in the Antarctic Ocean.In a joint statement, Australia's Foreign Minister Marise Payne and Environment Minister Melissa Price said their government is "extremely disappointed" at the development.Restating Australia's resolute opposition to whaling in all forms, they vowed to continue working within IWC to uphold the body's global moratorium on commercial whaling regardless of Japa…READ FULL ARTICLE