Ex-treasurer Joe Hockey backs iron ore cartel, says Labor’s CGT changes ‘stupid’ and will hurt AI investment

Joe Hockey is on board with secret plans to create a Pilbara iron ore cartel to combat China’s intensifying market squeeze and believes Jim Chalmers should have more veto powers over critical minerals deals.

Mr Hockey, a former Federal treasurer and current whisperer to Donald Trump, also warned that the Iran War has “a long way to go” given the US President “doesn’t mind” Strait of Hormuz chaos.

After opening the 2026 Diggers & Dealers conference, Mr Hockey weighed in on closed-door plans being concocted in Canberra, revealed by The West Australian last week, to give WA’s iron ore giants special dispensation from antitrust laws so they can negotiate prices as a bloc.

The Albanese Government’s covert move is in response to the formation of the China Minerals Resources Group — a Beijing-owned centralised buying agent acting for many of the country’s steel mills — which is increasingly putting pressure on WA’s iron ore miners to lower their prices, jeopardising Australia’s most lucrative export income stream.

Fortescue last week said CRMG was acting against fair market practice.

“If team Australia work together, as long as it’s within a framework . . . to meet head on some failures in the market, then I’m in support,” Mr Hockey said on Monday.

He also supports the prospect of government intervention beyond iron ore.

Mr Hockey “absolutely” wants Treasurer Jim Chalmers to gain more veto powers over deals involving foreign investment in critical minerals.

Reports have emerged that the Albanese Government will alter the foreign investment regime after Chinese investors continuously flouted orders by Mr Chalmers to sell down their stakes in the strategically important heavy rare earths developer Northern Minerals.

“We believe in free and open markets . . . but we need to act in the national interest first,” Mr Hockey said.

After his stint as Federal treasurer, Mr Hockey served as Australia’s ambassador to the US and then became a lobbyist based in Washington DC renowned for his close relationship with Mr Trump.

Mr Hockey, who golfs with the president, rejected claims that Mr Trump was eager to end the Iran War, specifically the Strait of Hormuz blockade, before the US midterm elections in November.

“He (Trump) doesn’t mind about the Strait of Hormuz. Oil prices are up in Texas. He’s got midterms coming — Texas is still important for the midterms. America is doing OK,” Mr Hockey said.

Mr Trump apparently became more determined to flex power during his second presidential term after an assassination attempt in July 2024.

“I spoke to him two days, three days after the assassination attempt, and you know, you can see in his eyes that from his perspective, this was now a God-given mission,” Mr Hockey said.

“You know, ‘I’ve got to fulfill this destiny, and I’m going to do it. And I don’t care . . . I’m going to have a place in history’.”

While feting Mr Trump, Mr Hockey labelled California Governor Gavin Newsom — seen by many to be a future presidential contender for the Democratic Party — as a “weirdo”, without extrapolating further.

‘Stupid’ tax changes

Mr Hockey was emphatic in his assessment of the Albanese Government’s axing of the 50 per cent capital gains discount.

“Capital gains tax is a disaster, their changes — stupid,” he said.

“AI is the most transformative technology in our lifetime, no doubt about it. The best way for us to compete with new technology is to encourage new innovation to get the very best (out of that) technology and build on it.

“And when you say, ‘look, whatever you do, the government’s going to take half the money away’ . . . that’s dumb.”

Mr Hockey said he was happy to label the recent Federal Budget, where those capital gains changes were announced, as the “worst Budget in history”.

“I’m happy to say it’s the worst Budget, you know, because I had that title previously.”

He also believes that the Albanese’s Government’s spending is out of control and that they’re “running out of money”.

“We’re on the cusp of every dollar of income tax you pay being spent on welfare. So where is the money going to come from for health, for education, for innovation, for national security, for defence?”

Mr Hockey said further taxes, including taxes on inheritance and the family home, were “inevitable”, unless spending was reined in.

“If you’re taxing capital, then you’re taxing enterprise, you’re taxing jobs, and it becomes, you know, a horrific downward cycle,” he said.

“They’ve just got to stop spending money.”