Witness News Australia

08/06/2026

World Ocean Day

The edo.org.au report ......................

The oceans that surround Australia are among the most biodiverse waters in the world, with more than 33,000 recorded species, many of these are found nowhere else on the planet.

Right now, the offshore fossil fuel industry is expanding around Australia, putting these precious waters at risk. Seismic surveys, deep-sea drilling and carbon capture and storage projects can harm our oceans and the species that depend on them.

From the Great Barrier Reef to Ningaloo, our marine ecosystems are already under pressure from climate change.

The decisions being made about new offshore fossil fuel projects will shape the future of our oceans and our climate – and communities have a right to be part of those decisions.

13/05/2026

From Joe Attanasio - Senior Yahoo News reporter

Controversial $1.5b Trump Tower on Gold Coast axed as residents 'crack beers' in celebration
The proposed 91-storey development at Surfers Paradise would have become the tallest building in Australia.

The controversial Trump Tower at Surfers Paradise has been officially scrapped.
The collapse of the proposed $1.5 billion Trump Tower development in Surfers Paradise has left residents and campaigners planning to “crack beers” in celebration.

The Trump Organisation has pulled out of the development, saying its Australian partner Altus Property Group did not meet its licensing obligations.

Organiser of a petition against the 91-storey tower, Craig Hill, told Yahoo News Australia he believes the decision highlights what can happen when a community unites behind a common cause.

Hill said 140,000 people had united in opposition to the development on the Gold Coast.

The proposed 285-room hotel for Surfers Paradise would have become the tallest building in Australia.

Altus Property Group chief executive and founder David Young confirmed on Wednesday the Trump Organisation had pulled out of the project, though he said plans for a tower at the site were still progressing.

“Let's just say that with the Iran war and everything else, the Trump brand was increasingly toxic in Australia,” Young told the ABC.

“Some time ago, we knew it was time to part company.

“It was not about not meeting obligations. There are other luxury brand options for us. The project is live.”

A spokeswoman for the Trump Organisation told the Australian Financial Review that the group still hopes to bring a property to Australia.

“While we were very excited about the opportunity to bring a world-class development to the Gold Coast, the project was dependent on our licensing partner meeting certain obligations,” she told the Australian Financial Review.

“Unfortunately, those obligations were not fulfilled.”

The Trump Tower would have been Australia's tallest building.
Hill said campaigners had linked multiple petitions opposing the proposed tower, attracting about 142,000 signatures.

Yahoo also polled almost 3000 people, with 88 per cent saying they "don't want it".

“We arranged a barrister in Brisbane and a lawyer down on the Gold Coast to work pro bono,” Hill said.

11/05/2026

As dusk falls across Western Australia's northern jarrah forests, a pair of Carnaby’s black cockatoos wheel above towering jarrah trees, calling to each other as they search for a safe hollow to nest in. Below the canopy, in a nest snuggled into the undergrowth, sleeps a woylie with her baby.

But in the distance, the sound of bulldozers builds from a rumble to a roar, and ancient trees that started growing before colonisation tumble to the ground.

Like the Carnaby’s black cockatoos that call these ancient forests home, the woylie’s life and the future of her species are threatened. Once widespread across mainland Australia, they are now endangered and confined to small pockets in Western Australia and South Australia. Mining for bauxite in the northern jarrah forests is pushing this species closer to extinction.

Mining companies, including South32 and Alcoa, have already cleared thousands of hectares of northern jarrah forest that the woylie and other threatened species depend on.

Across Australia, our wildlife and the unique habitats they depend on are under increasing pressure.

Earlier this year, Federal Environment Minister Murray Watt noted Alcoa had been illegally clearing threatened species habitat in the northern jarrah forests since 2011. Alcoa reportedly cleared more than 2,000ha of native vegetation over this time.

The minister fined Alcoa $55 million, equivalent to about one day of the company’s revenue, but then gave Alcoa an exemption to continue clearing for another 18 months.

19/04/2026

Katherine Neaves of the Conservation Council of WA reports ...........

Last month, I stood with 3,000 people in Perth/Boorloo’s CBD calling for an end to forest mining in WA.

Looking around at the crowd, it was (and is) abundantly clear that Western Australians want the world’s only Jarrah forests protected.

As a campaigner with the Conservation Council of WA I have seen the scale of destruction of Alcoa's operations first hand.

This is a US-based company that has already bulldozed over 28,000 hectares of the Northern Jarrah Forest, largely out of public view and behind closed doors.

Alcoa’s bauxite mining is pushing species to the brink and, in a changing climate, increasing the risk of its ecological collapse.

Yet Alcoa wants to continue with its destruction, proposing to clear tens of thousands of hectares more.

Add your name to End to Forest Mining

The Northern Jarrah Forests are being destroyed by bauxite mining, which is now the leading cause of deforestation in the Southwest. When these forests are mined they don’t come back, ever. We must act now to protect them for future generations. Together, we can end forest mining.

13/03/2026

Last week, reports emerged that three Australian crew were aboard a US submarine when it torpedoed an Iranian ship, killing more than 80 people and apparently leaving the survivors to drown.

The Australians were on the submarine as part of the AUKUS security pact. And despite Prime Minister Albanese insisting they had not “participated in any offensive action against Iran”, this distinction matters little when the war itself is wrong – something this government has been unwilling to say.

12/03/2026

Time is running out for the WA jarrah forest, and Alcoa has just been granted a ‘national interest exemption’ to continue clearing whilst under assessment.

Forests across the country, including the Northern Jarrah Forest, are facing threats including mining and logging. Native forest logging has ended in WA, but deforestation persists with bauxite mining now the lead cause of deforestation in the Southwest.

05/03/2026

This morning the Albanese Government pulled its controversial freedom of information (FOI) bill that would have limited Australians’ right to access Government information – after Liberal, National, Greens and Independent Senators banded together to oppose it.

The bill went directly against the findings of the Robodebt Royal Commission, which recommended more openness around Cabinet documents – not less. The Government planned to ban anonymous requests, charge fees on FOI requests and make government documents harder to access.

28/02/2026

There is growing concern about proposals to build a Trump-branded tower in Surfers Paradise. Beyond issues of over-development, environmental impact, and pressure on local infrastructure, many residents are deeply uncomfortable with the Trump brand and what it represents.

The Trump administration has pursued immigration policies and actions that many Australians view as inhumane, discriminatory, and fundamentally opposed to democratic and constitutional principles. These actions do not reflect the values we stand for in Australia.

Stop the Proposed Trump Tower Development on the Gold Coast

14/02/2026

A recent US congressional report on AUKUS has given us more updates on the state of the deal than our own government has provided. And the news isn’t good.

It reminded us that the US can decide to not sell any nuclear submarines to Australia, despite our eagerness to hand over $368bn of Australian taxpayer dollars. We have already paid the US and the British over $4 billion (with another $4 billion to come) so that they can fix their shipyards, and, we don't get any of our money back.

Despite its detail, the report is unclear on how much money Australia has already handed over or where it’s gone. This egregious lack of transparency continues to define this deal so obviously not in Australia’s public interest.

24/01/2026

Breaking news — the Land and Environment Court of NSW granted the Nature Conservation Council of NSW (NCC), the right to join proceedings in defence of the Independent Planning Commission’s (IPC) refusal of the Redbank Power Station restart.

Last year, the IPC refused the Redbank restart after considering substantial community feedback and expert evidence on climate, environmental and social impacts.

Energy company Verdant Earth Technologies has appealed that refusal. The company is seeking to use the retired coal-fired power station near Singleton in NSW to burn up to 500,000 tonnes of native vegetation a year to produce energy.

The appeal is a merits appeal, meaning the Court will determine the application afresh and may consider new evidence. Today’s order means NCC can join the case as a respondent to ensure the community’s concerns about environmental harm are strongly argued before the court.