Witness News Australia

03/09/2025

Ad Standards Australia has found that Aluminium giant Alcoa misled the public through an advertisement earlier this year.

The environmental Defenders Office (edo.org.au) lodged a complaint with regulators on behalf of the West Australian Forest Alliance, Conservation Council of Western Australia, and the Wilderness Society in July and August.

Alcoa claimed it had rehabilitated forests it cleared for bauxite mining, but the regulator found “…the overall impression created by the advertisement was inaccurate and likely to mislead or deceive target consumers.”

Greenwashing is on the rise, undermining our efforts to tackle the climate crisis and nature destruction when it matters most. Can you help us use the law to hold companies that seek to misrepresent their impact to account?

Alcoa has cleared more than 28,000ha of forests in Western Australia for mining and associated works and has applied for approval to clear a further 11,500ha, including significant sections of northern jarrah forest.

Ad Standards found Alcoa’s advertisements breached four of the five standards contained within its Environmental Code. Our clients’ complaint to ASIC is still being assessed.

The Wilderness Society spokesperson Jenita Enevoldsen said: “We believe this intensive advertising campaign of misrepresentation attempted to drown-out the voices of experts about the bleak reality of Alcoa’s mining practices in the northern jarrah forest."

03/09/2025

Coles has just announced it will go deforestation-free by the end of 2025.

They’re the last major Aussie supermarket to make that commitment. This follows Woolworths, ALDI, and McDonald's, who made similar commitments in 2024.
Now, millions of animals, including endangered koalas and greater gliders, have a better chance of survival

25/08/2025

24 Aug 2025


Spirit of Tasmania IV has arrived in Hobart after an eight week voyage from Scotland. The ship was built in Finland and is one of two set to replace the ageing Bass Strait ferries. An infrastructure bungle means the ships can't operate on the Devonport to Geelong run for at least another year.

Spirit of Tasmania IV has arrived in Hobart after an eight week voyage from Scotland. The ship was built in Finland and is one of two set to replace the agei...

25/08/2025

Crikey
Bernard Keane
Aug 18

What if Australia were Ukraine? Trump and Putin prove our strategy to trust the US is a roll of the dice

The Alaskan summit between Putin and Trump should be a warning to Australians that it's a risk to rely on the United States in the event

Australia’s geographical isolation makes it hard to come up with an exact parallel, but let’s put ourselves in the shoes of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy watching the Putin-Trump meeting on the weekend unfold.

A major power launches an assault on Australia or Australian interests that we are ill-matched to contest, makes major gains against us and demands still more. The response of the United States, which has previously committed to providing us with assistance, is to welcome the leader of the power assaulting us — a demonstrated war criminal — and purport to discuss a deal that involves Australia sacrificing crucial interests with no input from us. When no deal is forthcoming, the US reverts the terms of negotiation in our assailant’s favour — all cheered on by a phalanx of commentators who regard our assailant as an example of the kind of muscular autocracy that the West could do with more of. And, perhaps, American businesses keen to take advantage of the conflict.

https://www.crikey.com.au/2025/08/18/ukraine-usa-trump-putin-defence-strategy-aukus/

16/08/2025

The WA EPA is asking for submissions regarding Alcoa's plans to double the red mud waste stored at the Pinjarra plant. As they can't manage the toxic dust and water now, Witness News Australia asks "will that improve when they add 315 million tonnes more?". The expansion will also allow ALCOA to strip-mine another 11,500 ha. of forest.
Should you wish to make a submission for or against the proposal that can be done at:

This site contains consultations that are run by Environmental Protection Authority.

14/08/2025

According to the Australian Marine Conservation Society, roughly 130,000 tonnes of plastic end up in our oceans each year, harming marine life and disrupting ecosystems. This pollution is not limited to plastics chemicals, industrial waste, and debris from wasteful shipping companies add to the damage. These pollutants destroy marine biodiversity and can also affect human health as we are part of the same ecosystem.

30/06/2025

Heather Twidle has stated a petition (https://chng.it/PYJkkQkM2X ) to save Adelaide's tree martins by removing the nets from the Leigh Street trees where the flock roosts.

Leigh St in Adelaide is the chosen autumn roosting site of a rare flock of up to 10,000 tree martins, a tiny, migratory bird whose numbers are declining. Instead of embracing these birds as a wonderful example of successful urban wildlife, the Adelaide City Council led by Dr Jane Lomax-Smith AM has instead chosen to net off the trees (with wide-aperture netting that is lethal to wildlife in its own right) and force them to find new places to go.

We don’t have a lot of research into these tiny birds, and this could have actually posed a fantastic opportunity for observations, but now these birds have been displaced from the shelter of these trees and are being forced into confrontations with an urban landscape they don’t understand. Dozens of them - as many as 50 at a time - are flying at full speed into large glass windows of nearby shop fronts on Rundle St. Wildlife carers only became aware of this less than two weeks ago and have been a regular presence ever since, collecting the dead and dying birds en masse. Every bird is seen by a vet, and survivors are brought into care, but with only a handful of carers and thousands of birds, these resources have been totally overwhelmed. Fatigued carers have even suffered abuse from council staff as they try to alleviate the suffering of these birds. The sad reality is these nets have been up since August of last year and we simply don’t know the true toll, but it could be as high as 10% of the flock.

There are ways to reduce the conflict between humans and nature without resorting to measures which have killed hundreds upon hundreds of birds in agonising ways. Injuries documented in the last week alone include multiple open fractures, severe head trauma, broken beaks and ruptured eyes. Many die of shock before they even reach a vet for humane euthanasia.

The Council, led by Dr Lomax-Smith, have obstructed all efforts by various parties to provide alternate solutions. They are perfectly content for wildlife to continue to pay the ultimate price for human convenience - we disagree. Dr Lomax-Smith claims other options were explored but we know from media releases at the time that they were only considered and not implemented. Please let Dr Lomax-Smith know you think animal cruelty is not acceptable in this day and age. If the nets come down, the birds can return to the safety of their longstanding roosts, and the killing will stop.

Save the tree martins - remove the nets from their trees!

26/06/2025

Earlier this month, Marion Council approved the proposed sale of Chestnut Court Reserve in Tonsley for redevelopment into a Tesla battery recycling facility—despite over 95% of public submissions opposing the plan.

Local residents launched the Trees Not Teslas petition, raising concerns about removing mature trees from a site contaminated with trichloroethylene (TCE), a chemical linked to health risks. Environmental advocates say the trees help contain the contamination and support local biodiversity.

Tomorrow. Petitioners plan to deliver the petition directly to the Minister for Local Government, Joe Szakacs, who will decide whether the sale proceeds.

16/06/2025

The G7 meeting is in full swing, with Prime Minister Albanese preparing to meet US President Donald Trump in Canada on Tuesday.

It comes less than a week after the US announced a review of the AUKUS security pact. The UK has already announced a similar review. Australia now has a real chance to escape this disastrous deal that has never been properly scrutinised by the Australian parliament.

The deal, conceived in secret by Scott Morisson’s Coalition Government, ties our security to the US and UK, for a price tag of $368bn. This includes nuclear-powered submarines few experts believe will ever be delivered.

13/06/2025

The Yulin government in China announced they will be hosting a live concert featuring some celebrities from Beijing on June 21—the very date of the so-called Dog Meat “Festival.” Even more significant: this concert will take place near one of the two main dog meat markets in Yulin.

This latest announcement shows a clear trend: the new local leadership is actively shifting attention away from the horrific and shameful Dog Meat “Festival.”

Attendance at the “festival” has been declining every year.

11/06/2025

Pacific Neutrality Call as US talks up war
Annette Brownlie reports .............................

11 Jun 2025

The Pacific Peace Network (PPN) and partners in a region-wide call to action to “Declare Neutrality and Help Prevent a U.S.-China War.”

This webinar ( https://actionnetwork.org/events/declare-neutrality?clear_id=true ) marks the launch of a peace petition hosted by World Beyond War, aimed at fostering solidarity among Pacific and Pacific Rim communities against militarism and rising tensions.

The event will feature Vanuatu’s Climate Change Minister, Hon. Ralph Regenvanu, and speakers from across the Pacific region.

Petition Link: https://worldbeyondwar.org/declareneutrality

The campaign is part of an ongoing effort to promote peace, sustainability, and cooperation across the Pacific. A hybrid Pacific Peace Conference will follow in Brisbane on August 2nd, 2025.

https://chng.it/vSXD5pFxJv

19/05/2025

US military expected to export 'high-risk' explosives to Australian ports amid arms expansion
As reported by Annette Brownlie, Camp Hill, Brisbane

Twenty tonne containers of "explosives cargo" have been added to shipping manifests on the new contract, and in an attached statement to prospective contractors, USTRANSCOM said those containers "include gases, or radioactive".

USTRANSCOM said contractors would be expected to comply with US laws around the handling of ammunition and explosives, including "rockets, missiles, warheads and devices".

The Australian Department of Defence's Brigadier Mick Say told the recent Northern Australia Defence Summit that the pre-positioning of US military equipment in Australia had been "enabled" by the 2014 US Force Posture Agreement.

He flagged a potential expansion in US Force Posture efforts after high-level ministerial talks between Canberra and Washington later this year.

"That will lead to a number of other announcements, once agreed to by governments, in regards to the next steps of the Force Posture activities within Australia," he said.