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Japan is defending its plans to hunt whales in the Antarctic Ocean and says opposition from anti-whaling nations will not stop what it calls a "research whaling program." The United States, Australia and New Zealand have all urged Japan to call off the hunt, but Australia has been one of Tokyo's most vocal opponents. Australia's Labor Party, which won parliamentary elections Saturday, has called for tougher action against Japan's whaling.
A Japanese government spokesman told reporters Monday that it could not change its program abruptly. Japan says it needs to kill whales to conduct research on their reproductive and feeding patterns, and says the number it kills is too small to endanger their populations. The whale meat is sold after the hunt.
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