In the News
The Hon Alex Hawke MP
Shadow Minister for Industry and Innovation
Manager of Opposition Business in the House
9 October 2025
“MISSTEP” IN APPOINTMENT OF UNION OFFICIAL TO NRF BOARD: DSIR SECRETARY
In an extraordinary admission, the Secretary of the Department of Industry, Science and Resources (DSIR) admitted that the appointment of former union official Mr Glenn Thompson to the board of the $15 billion National Reconstruction Fund (NRF) involved a serious “misstep.”
The Hon Alex Hawke MP
Shadow Minister for Industry and Innovation
Manager of Opposition Business in the House
Interview with Melissa Clark, Afternoon Briefing, ABC,
8 October 2025
Topics: Glencore bailout, Labor’s sky-high energy prices, higher taxes and rigid regulation, Labor’s industry subsidies, energy policy, Liberal Party, Australian-Indian community.
E&OE
Host, Melissa Clarke
The Hon Alex Hawke MP
Shadow Minister for Industry and Innovation
Manager of Opposition Business in the House
Senator Susan McDonald
Shadow Minister for Resources Shadow Minister for Northern Australia
Andrew Willcox
Shadow Assistant Minister for Manufacturing and Sovereign Capability
JOINT MEDIA STATEMENT
8 October 2025
Glencore bailout confirms Labor’s energy policy crisis
Mr HAWKE (Mitchell—Manager of Opposition Business) (18:05): I rise today to speak to the industry appropriations. Clearly, the government's announcement today of the bailout of Glencore shows its ongoing instinct to continue using the taxpayer's balance sheet to bail out companies across Australia that are struggling to keep their operations open in many important sectors like smelting, manufacturing and heavy industry.
THE HON SUSSAN LEY MP
LEADER OF THE OPPOSITION
FEDERAL MEMBER FOR FARRER
THE HON ALEX HAWKE MP
SHADOW MINISTER FOR INDUSTRY AND INNOVATION
FEDERAL MEMBER FOR MITCHELL
Our thoughts are first and foremost with the 220 workers, their families, and the broader Kwinana community who face uncertainty as a result of today’s announcement to close the Alcoa alumina refinery.