Australia will not back down on its call for Japan to stop whaling in the Southern Ocean, Foreign Minister Stephen Smith says.
Speaking from Tokyo, Mr Smith said Australia and Japan were both committed to reaching a diplomatic solution over their differences on whaling.
But he then went on to say Australia would not compromise on its position that there should be a total ban on the practice.
"Our start and end point is that we believe very strongly, and it's a very firmly held view of the Australian people, that the Japanese should cease whaling the Southern Ocean," he told ABC Television tonight.
"We have agreed that through diplomatic measures we will at least make the effort, we will at least try and see whether there is an agreement that we can come to."
Mr Smith said whaling would be discussed in a trilateral meeting between Australia, the United States and Japan at the G8 meeting in July.
China was the only Asian nation Prime Minister Kevin Rudd visited during his recent overseas trip, but Mr Smith rejected suggestions this indicated China was the Rudd government's top priority.
"The prime minister always made it clear that he would be going to Japan on two occasions this year," he said.
"There has been a half a dozen ministerial visits to Japan which reflected and underlined the strength of the relationship between Australia and Japan."
