Peter Garrett has welcomed the court verdict that Japan's annual whaling hunt is not scientific. Source: AAP
THE federal government doesn't believe a decision in Australia's favour in the UN's top court to ban Japan's whale hunt will affect ties between the nations.
The International Court of Justice on Monday evening ruled that Japan's whale hunt in the Southern Ocean was not scientific and it should cease the program "with immediate effect".
The decision comes less than a week before Prime Minister Tony Abbott heads to Tokyo in a bid to finalise a free trade agreement with Japan, Australia's second-largest trading partner.
When asked if he thought the outcome would affect negotiations between Australia and Japan on the long-awaited trade deal, Attorney-General George Brandis said: "I'm sure it wouldn't".
Senator Brandis said the fact Australia and Japan could differ on this "narrow" issue but remain close was testament to the "endearing" nature of the relationship.
"The relationship between Australia and Japan is an excellent relationship," he told reporters in Perth on Monday.
Senator Brandis said he had been briefed by Australia's solicitor-general at The Hague, and understood the effect of the court was "to stop the existing program".
Labor welcomed the historic decision, saying a program that had killed thousands of whales over the years would finally come to an end.
Deputy Opposition Leader Tanya Plibersek said Australia's opposition to whaling had been vindicated and in the process they'd successfully held Japan to account on its legal commitment.
"The court has now upheld our arguments, and the international rule of law will be stronger for the action we have taken," she said in a joint statement with shadow ministers Mark Dreyfus and Mark Butler.
Both nations had agreed to abide by the court's decision so it was now time for the federal government to take up discussions with Japan on non-lethal methods of whaling research, she added.
Former environment minister Peter Garrett said he felt vindicated over Labor's decision in 2010 to pursue the case in The Hague against so-called "scientific whaling".
"I'm absolutely over the moon, for all those people who wanted to see the charade of scientific whaling cease once and for all," the former Midnight Oil singer told ABC Radio on Monday evening.
Greens leader Christine Milne paid tribute to the "champions" at Sea Shepherd, calling the ICJ verdict "justice at last".
Sea Shepherd Australia chairman and former Australian Greens leader Bob Brown congratulated the captain of the fleet that made its name in daring clashes with Japanese whalers in Antarctica.
"A whale of a win! Paul Watson is a global hero and Australians can all feel proud. Sea Shepherd Australia chairman," Mr Brown posted on Twitter.
Australian Greens Senator Peter Whish-Wilson said Australia had shown it could be a "powerful force" for nature on the world stage, and it was vital the job was seen through to the end.
"When Tony Abbott visits Japan in just over a week, whales must be top of the agenda," he said in a statement.
ANU professor of international law Don Rothwell said the ICJ decision provided "significant guidance" for the first time on how a legitimate whaling program could be run in the future.
"This could provide Japan with a basis to undertake future whaling programs consistently with its international legal obligations," he said in a statement.
Sea Shepherd Australia Managing Director Jeff Hanson said the court decision vindicated Sea Shepherd for not only upholding Australian federal laws but also international laws in defending the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary "for the whales and for future generations".
"In the absence of law enforcement in the Southern Ocean, Sea Shepherd has been the only organisation upholding the law in defence of the International Whale Sanctuary," he said in a statement.
Greenpeace Oceans campaigner Nathaniel Pelle said the ruling confirmed Japan's whaling program was an "illegal and unnecessary hunt of protected species" and it was high time the industry was "consigned to the history books".
"We're calling on the Japanese government to immediately abide by this decision, scrap the Nisshin Maru factory ship, and cease all future attempts to continue commercial whaling."
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