Australia calls for end to whaling

Australia has called for a gradual phasing out of whaling around the world in a proposal submitted to the International Whaling Commission.

The proposal - which excludes aboriginal subsistence whaling - calls for whaling to be brought under the control of the commission so individual countries cannot unilaterally give permits for "scientific" whaling, environment minister Peter Garrett said, in a reference to Japan, which kills hundreds of whales each year under its whaling research programme.