LABOR’S NRF BUYS EVERY AUSSIE 3 TIM TAMS FOR $45 MILLION, BUT QUESTIONS REMAIN

The Hon Alex Hawke MP

Shadow Minister for Industry and Innovation 

Manager of Opposition Business in the House

MEDIA RELEASE

9 December 2025

LABOR’S NRF BUYS EVERY AUSSIE 3 TIM TAMS FOR $45 MILLION — BUT QUESTIONS REMAIN

More questions than answers are emerging on the decision by Labor’s industry fund to deploy $45 million of taxpayer funds in a highly competitive $1.75 billion debt refinancing of The Arnott’s Group.

In response to yesterday’s announcement that Labor’s $15 billion National Reconstruction Fund (NRF) will pump millions into the foreign-owned food manufacturer, a spokesperson for Arnott’s told The Australian that, “The National Reconstruction Fund was one of over 150 lenders who participated in the oversubscribed refinancing … The agreement attracts healthy interest rates, and is not, as has been reported, any form of bailout.”

A spokesperson for the NRF similarly denied that the debt deal was a bailout, stating, “The idea that this investment is a bailout is simply not true.”

Arnott’s is majority-owned by KKR, a large U.S.-based private equity firm.
Comments by Arnott’s that the NRF’s investment contributed to an oversubscribed funding round raise a fundamental question: if there was already sufficient private sector interest in Arnott’s, why did the taxpayer need to get involved in the first place?

The NRF’s legislated Investment Mandate requires that the industry fund “crowd-in” finance. Noting that Arnott’s funding round was oversubscribed, how many private investors did the NRF, in fact, crowd-out?

Arnott’s and the NRF’s sensitivity to charges that the $45 million ‘investment’ was a ‘bailout’ is a clear warning that the NRF’s reputation is being undermined by Labor’s decision to spend more than $3 billion on six industry facility bailouts in this year alone.

Shadow Minister for Industry and Innovation, Alex Hawke, said Labor’s so-called ‘modern industry policy’ was code for bailouts.

“It’s hard to see the value for money here: $45 million buys 7.5 million packs of Tim Tams, or 82.5 million biscuits - that is three Tim Tams for every Australian,” Mr Hawke said.

“Labor’s priorities are all wrong. The NRF is spraying around millions of taxpayer dollars to increase the valuation of foreign investments while small businesses are getting smashed by sky-high energy bills.

“Labor is picking winners and playing fast and loose with taxpayer money.”

Last month, the NRF also announced a $36 million debt deal with Patties Food Group, producer of Four'n Twenty meat pies. Patties Food Group is also foreign-owned.
 

ENDS