Both Australian and New Zealand officials are applauding a new UN court ruling which bans the Japanese government from whaling in the Antarctic.
The International Court of Justice has ruled that Japan's annual hunt is not really for scientific purposes, as Tokyo has claimed.
The Japanese side has since said it will abide by the new ruling.
New Zealand Foreign Minister Murray McCully.
"The very optimistic feature here is that they've (Japan) made it very clear that they're going to abide by the decision and it appears that they're going to remain committed to the IWC membership as well."
Former Australian Pr