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From todays Strewth column in the Australian

Clueless Viking THE voyage of the Australian Customs Service ship Oceanic Viking ends when it docks in Fremantle this morning after a seven-week, 5000-nautical-mile voyage to monitor Japanese whaling activity in the Southern Ocean. About the only useful thing the ship did was to help transfer two anti-whaling activists, Benjamin Potts and Giles Lane of the vigilante conservationist group Sea Shepherd, from a Japanese harpoon boat back to the Steve Irwin. Crew aboard the Ocean Viking took photographs and video of the Japanese operations that it has been claimed may be used in legal action against Japan. Strewth hopes ACS chief executive Michael Carmody enjoys his home movies because legal experts are at a loss to nominate in what jurisdiction legal action can be taken against the Japanese.

I commented earlier

I do not sit easy with the fact that the government of a country like Australia is acting as a paid up member of a radical organization that terrorizes people going about their legitimate business. The entire affair is very untidy and leaves Australia’s reputation as a reasoned and intelligent player shattered.

Nothing is going to happen. Rudd got his mileage from the non thinkers by misusing a ship for political gain. The Greenies swooned, the young voters said ‘cool Dude’, the Japanese rolled their eyes and ignored the ship and all is sweet with the world of the crazy left. I would have to take DD McNicoll to task over his suggestion that transferring Benjamin Potts and Giles Lane from the Whaler to the Steve Irwin (so named to tug on warm and fuzzy Aussie heartstrings) was useful. The idiots should be have been left on the Jap whaler as playthings for the crew – their only chance in life of being useful. Anyone like to comment on how much each Greenie vote cost the country once the costs of seven-week, 5000-nautical-mile voyage are factored in. Even if it’s one cent per it’s too much.