Press Releases

New plan to help cut methane, not corners, as part of net zero by 2050 ambition.  CHICAGO, IL (May 7th, 2024) — Mars, Inc., has announced the launch of an ambitious sustainable dairy plan that will be backed by a $47m investment over three years – a significant financial backing that is part of the multinational’s broader climate cash commitment, totaling $1 billion over the same period.  The company’s new climate-first approach to dairy sourcing, dubbed Moo’ving Dairy Forward, will work to reduce the carbon footprint of dairy in line with its 2030 ambition to slash emissions by 50%*. The move signals another mile-marker in the CPG giant’s recently published open-source roadmap to “net zero”. Mars will work with a cohort of industry leaders to implement a host of meaningful on-farm interventions focused on critical areas such as enteric methane reduction, efficient manure management and sustainable feed production. As part of…

Police will be able to scan people for knives without a warrant in crowded places including shopping centres under new laws being developed by the New South Wales government after stabbings at Bondi Junction, Wakeley and Coffs Harbour. The legislation will be based on Queensland’s Jack’s Law, which was introduced last year following a 24-month trial of the powers on the Gold Coast, sparked by the death of 17-year-old Jack Beasley in 2019. The premier, Chris Minns, said the state had “borne witness to the devastating outcomes of knife-related violence”. “I know that many in our community have followed the devastating media coverage and heard the stories of victims and families – tragically, there have been so many recent examples,” he said. Our communities are still in mourning, but it’s essential that we step up to take immediate action to send a clear message that NSW will simply not accept these kinds of crimes.” Beasley’s father met…

An increase in robberies and assaults across the petrol station industry in SA has prompted the SDA to launch a new campaign. The SDA, the state’s largest union, is launching a campaign to protect the safety of workers, including introducing measures such as the installation of safety screens, secondary exits, mandatory night winders when working alone, secure cash machines, and better CCTV and surveillance measures. Josh Peak, SDA Secretary, said all petrol station workers deserve a safe workplace and that no worker should have to go to work and worry if they’re going to come home safely. “Incidents of theft and abuse are increasing in petrol stations and more must be done to keep workers safe. “Secondary exits, mandatory night windows and safety screens should be the standard, but for most petrol station workers, they’d be lucky if their workplace has even one of these. “The layout and security measures…

Supermarkets would be prohibited from price gouging and face stricter rules on land banking, should the government adopt the recommendations of the Senate Select Committee on Supermarket Prices. The committee published 14 recommendations, which include creating divestiture powers specific to the supermarket sector and prohibiting the charging of excess prices, otherwise known as price gouging. The committee noted that it heard unfair trading practices arising from the so-called supermarket duopoly of Coles and Woolworths. Moreover, the committee emphasised the need for merger reforms, which should include banning land banking. The Australian Securities and Investments Commission defines land banking as a ‘real estate investment scheme that involves buying large blocks of undeveloped land,’ which the committee said supermarkets do to reduce competition, particularly in greenfield sites where new suburbs are being developed. Currently, Woolworths holds around 50 development sites and Coles around 60, with some acquired decades ago. Other recommendations from the committee…

New RedBridge Group research commissioned by the Australian Association of Convenience Stores(AACS) reveals: The damming results were found through focus group research of parents and an online survey of 1,518voters undertaken by Redbridge Research Group in April 2024. This research finds that even though three-quarters of Australians believe that banning vapes has notbeen successful in stopping children from getting access to vapes, the Australian Government iscontinuing with the existing unworkable vaping prohibition laws. For the last two years, the Australian Government has completely failed to control the nicotine vapingblack market, with millions of cheap, unregulated, child-targeted vapes flooding into Australia and beingsold by black market criminals each week, AACS CEO Theo Foukkare said. “Strictly regulating and controlling vaping products for adults-only has been shown to reduce youth vaping rates by more than 65% in the United States and 19% in New Zealand, 1 yet the Health Minister continues to double…

The Australian Association of Convenience Stores (AACS) has welcomed Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan’s announcement today that businesses in the state will soon need a license to sell tobacco, after years of lobbying by the retail industry. AACS CEO Theo Foukkare said he and over 1700 members were eager to work with the Victorian Government to get the licensing scheme on track and in place as soon as possible “AACS has been calling for a tobacco licensing scheme in Victoria for years now and we welcome Premier Allan’s announcement today. “We want to work side-by-side with the Victorian Government to help develop the scheme so that it suits both authorities and retailers. “It’s important that we sit down with the Victorian Government now to talk through the details, and we are very keen to be part of the working group that will help shape this important law. “The scheme must be…