Commonwealth of Australia
Conall O'Connell
Australia, a founding member of the International Whaling Commission, was a major whaling nation until it banned the practice in 1978. It is a cosponsor of the Berlin Initiative, which would create a new committee on the IWC devoted to whale conservation. Dr. Conall O’Connell was appointed on August 29, 2001. The following is excerpted from Australia’s opening statement at the Berlin meeting of the IWC on June 16, 2003 Australia hopes that the fifty-fifth annual meeting of the International Whaling Commission will mark a historical milestone in the development of the organization established under the International Convention for the…