Media Release - “MISSTEP” IN APPOINTMENT OF UNION OFFICIAL TO NRF BOARD: DSIR SECRETARY

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.” 

In Senate Estimates today, Secretary Meghan Quinn conceded that DSIR did not document desktop due diligence checks on the appointment of Mr Thompson and that no external provider was engaged to check on Mr Thompson’s qualifications and background.

Instead, DSIR undertook rushed verbal checks under compressed timeframes for which no written records exist.

Mr Glenn Thompson was the former National President of Australian Manufacturing Workers Union, the same union for which Minister Ayres was a secretary of. Minister Ayres admitted in Estimates that Mr Thompson is “well known to me.”

Shadow Minister for Industry and Innovation, Alex Hawke, said the Thompson appointment has rung alarm bells.

“It’s very fishy that Labor handed Mr Thompson a cushy board job - which oversees $15bn of taxpayer funds - without due diligence checks having been documented,” Mr Hawke said.

“Today’s revelations undermine confidence in Labor’s industry mega fund, putting taxpayer dollars at risk.

The NRF’s credibility stands or falls on independence and probity. The Government should fix its processes and respect taxpayers’ money.”

In June 2023, Minister Ayres, then Assistant Minister for Manufacturing, appointed Mr Thompson to the Rail Industry Innovation Council. He remains on the Council.

In June this year the Auditor-General found the NRF had no finalised investment or financial strategy despite millions having already been rolled out.

ENDS