Anti-whaling group attacks Greg Hunt over breaking election promise Plans to send an A319 Customs aircraft to the Southern Ocean instead of the originally promised ship: Environment Minister Greg Hunt. Anti-whaling activists have slammed the federal government for breaking an election promise to send a ship to monitor Japanese whaling in the Southern Ocean. Environment Minister Greg Hunt said on Sunday that an A319 aircraft staffed by Customs officials would be sent instead. Sea Shepherd Australian director Jeff Hansen, whose conservation society last week sent three vessels from Melbourne and Hobart to intercept the Japanese whaling fleet, said a plane was of no use. Unhappy: Sea Shepherd director Jeff Hansen says a plane is useless for monitoring whalers. Photo: Andrew Darby "It's a broken promise," Mr Hansen said. The promise was - to the whales and to the Australian public - to send a vessel. Sending a plane is really a waste of taxpayers' money. Speaking in Frankston, Victoria, on Sunday, Mr Hunt said the purpose of using a plane was threefold: to observe any whaling, to ensure there was "a record and a chronicle" of any conflict between whalers and conservationists and to show both sides that they were being observed by an independent party so "they have to behave properly." "Our promise was for a Customs monitoring mission," Mr Hunt said. We are delivering a mission which, on the advice of Customs, has greater flexibility, greater range. Not only are we fulfilling the promise, we're exceeding it because what it does is it allows us to cover not just one vessel but multiple vessels in a rapid period of time. Asked if the ship Ocean Protector, purpose-built to patrol the Southern Ocean, would continue to be used to ferry asylum seekers and patrol Christmas Island, Mr Hunt said: "I'll leave the use of Customs assets to the Customs bureau." But Mr Hansen said: "The Ocean Protector, that was purpose-built for the Southern Ocean environment and it's up there in a tropical environment basically used as a glorified taxi. Hunt was [previously] very much adamant saying a vessel needs to be down there. Greens senator Peter Whish-Wilson called on Mr Hunt to resign.