Whitby lauds new blood to speed WA environmental approvals
The WA environment minister wanted to tackle bureaucrats "at the desk doing the same thing for 15 years, telling people why something can't be done."
Award winning journalism
The journalism behind Boiling Cold has been recognized as independent, well researched and impactful with Peter Milne winning five WA Media Awards in the past three years.
2024
Science and Environmental Report
The real legacy for WA from Alcoa
Judges comments:
Peter Milne’s work reflects the benefits of doggedly pursuing a topic. Using freedom of information requests and knowledge he has accumulated over several years, he provides major new insights on the impact of Alcoa’s operations. Milne also highlights major regulatory and policy shortcomings in WA.
When will Alcoa clean up in Kwinana?
After six decades the US miner has left Kwinana with a contaminated plant and enough toxic red mud to fill Optus Stadium 138 times.
Peter Milne
WA government overrode water supply warnings to approve Alcoa mining
The WA environment regulator opposed Alcoa’s mining but proposed safeguards if it went ahead. The Cook government ignored the first recommendation and watered down the second.
Peter Milne
Worries of ‘irreversible’ damage to jarrah forest by Alcoa revealed
Water Corporation concluded that contamination of Perth’s dams is “certain” but the state government heavily watered-down its recommendations to reduce the risks from bauxite mining.
Peter Milne
2023
News Coverage
Tackling the rogue miner in WA’s jarrah forest
Judges’ comments:
Peter Milne’s series on aluminium producer Alcoa’s environmental performance was the standout in this category, both for its impact and for holding power to account. The pieces were thoroughly researched and relied on the reporter’s ability to mine for documentary evidence and to see through the spin produced by government and well-funded public relations teams. It was an outstanding entry.
Alcoa mining threatens Perth’s drinking water
Mining practices by Alcoa near Perth’s biggest dam could shut it down for years, causing water restrictions and potentially billions in water treatment costs.
Peter Milne
Alcoa in WA: 60 years, 28,000 hectares of forest cleared, zero rehabilitation completed
The department of conservation says Alcoa has not met the rehabilitation completion criteria, but the miner claims it has rehabilitated 75 per cent of the forest it has cleared.
Peter Milne
Alcoa piped toxic waste over drinking water dam, and asked for approval afterwards
US aluminium giant Alcoa pumped water with “forever chemical” PFAS over a dam near Waroona without regulatory approval or telling the Water Corporation.
Peter Milne
Business, Economics or Finance Report
Alcoa’s reputation car crash: water supply at risk, denuded forests and a toxic pipeline
Judges’ comments:
When it came to picking a winner ... Peter Milne’s work was a standout. This piece was the culmination of a six-month investigation that started with tip-offs, that came his way because of the reputation he has established for fair and fearless reporting. What followed was a deep dive into documentation about the issue, including the results of Freedom of Information requests and careful questioning of key stakeholders. This story and others resulting from the ongoing investigation are raising serious questions about the company with the rights to mine a considerable portion of the state’s last remaining jarrah forests.
Same three stories as the News Coverage award.
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Columnist – The Matt Price Prize
Digging into the spin from the big end of town
Judges’ comments:
Peter Milne boldly took on three big topics – the Western Australian of the Year awards, and mining giants Alcoa and Andrew Forrest. He wrote three excellent columns, expressing powerful opinions backed by in-depth research and hard facts. They were entertaining, informative and challenging.
WA’s embarrassment of richies makes us look ridiculous
The small group that decided controversial billionaire Gina Rinehart was Western Australian of the Year needs to look beyond the rich and powerful to find our most noteworthy citizens.
Peter Milne
Alcoa’s deal with WA a 62-year-old relic from a different time
The terms of Alcoa mining WA’s jarrah forest were decided when the scale of planned deforestation was tiny as was Perth’s population. Plenty has changed since then.
Peter Milne
Forrest ‘locked and loaded’ for net-zero but does Fortescue have the calibre?
Andrew Forrest does not hold back: if you doubt his miner Fortescue will be a world leader in reducing emissions then you are one of “the f---wits that loves fossil fuels”.
Peter Milne
2022
Business, Economics or Finance Report
Calling out working with Shell as a dangerous hell
A series of stories on dangerous working conditions on Shell's Prelude floating LNG vessel.
How Shell lost control of its $24b Prelude floating gas factory
With almost every system on Australia’s most complex offshore facility out of action workers scrambled to restart power that everything depended on.
Peter Milne
Shell’s Prelude gas vessel faced ‘catastrophic failure’ from power outage
Power problems on Shell’s giant Prelude gas vessel in December risked the “catastrophic failure” of parts of the ship’s structure according to a report by the offshore safety regulator.
Peter Milne
Shell’s Prelude gas ship hit by safety, crewing and industrial problems
Shell is running its $US17 billion Prelude floating LNG plant with critical positions filled with crew who are not fully qualified and more than 200 safety alarms out of action ahead of industrial action due to start on Friday.
Peter Milne
Banner image - Alcoa's mining near Serpentine Dam - Map data ©2024 Imagery ©2024 Airbus, CNES / Airbus, Landsat / Copernicus, Maxar Technologies