WAtoday business journalist Peter Milne has picked up three top honours at the state’s leading media awards, including for his “deep dive” investigation into US mining giant Alcoa’s operations in Western Australia.

Colleague Hamish Hastie also scooped The Beck Prize for best political report.

Milne, who won best business, economics or finance report, The Matt Price Prize for best columnist and the best news coverage award, beat tough competition in his categories from the likes of The West and ABC.

The judges praised his determined, careful investigative skills and resulting change brought about by his six-month-long probe of Alcoa’s unscrupulous bauxite mining activities that caused water pollution and the destruction of jarrah forests.

“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,” they said.

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“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.”

On his Matt Price Prize, they praised his work that “boldly took on three big topics – the Western Australian of the Year awards, and mining giants Alcoa and Andrew Forrest ... expressing powerful opinions backed by in-depth research and hard facts”.

On his news coverage award, for his combined stories on Alcoa, the judges said Milne’s work was the obvious standout “both for its impact and for holding power to account”.