Australian Environment Protection Minister Peter Garrett on Friday warned that a major whaling summit over a whaling compromise proposal may yield a "terrible, terrible" result for whales.

A showdown has been expected at the International Whaling Commission (IWC) summit in Morocco next week.

Delegates will consider a compromise proposal to overturn a ban on commercial whaling, which would legitimize Japanese whaling in the Antarctic for at least a decade.

"It may get up," Garrett told the Australian Associated Press from his office in the Parliament House.

"We will do whatever we can to make sure that there isn't a majority for a proposal to leave the moratorium on commercial whaling in tatters on the floor.

"That would be a terrible, terrible result."

Garrett, who flies to Morocco on Saturday for the five-day summit, has unveiled his plan of attack to counter the compromise proposal.

He will try to rally the support of anti-whaling allies from South America, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, Germany, and possibly the U.S., which has expressed some support for the compromise.

The minister will push an alternative proposal of phasing down and cessation of Antarctic whaling.

"The prospects are stretched," Garrett said of his proposal.

"Given that there's some really difficult and quite challenging issues that have come on to the table ... I think it's time for us to just get in there, stand up and argue as strongly as we need to that we don't take steps backwards."

Australia further will push for specific restrictions on whaling in the Southern Ocean, and try to make it harder to hunt whales in the name of science.

Australia's special envoy on whaling Sandy Hollway will also attend the IWC summit.