Mitchell H Hooke (Mitch) is globally recognised for his in-depth knowledge and strategic leadership in both Australian and global public policy advocacy, and commercial operational practices, spanning over 35 years as a national and international industry leader across the agricultural, food and grocery, and mining industries.
Mr Hooke was raised on a sheep property in Victoria’s Western District and was educated as a boarder at The Geelong College in Geelong, Victoria. He completed a Bachelor of Rural Science and a First Class Distinction Thesis in agricultural industrial politics at the University of New England in Armidale, NSW.
He started his career as an agricultural advisor/agronomist on the Darling Downs in Southern Queensland where he was a pioneer in the adoption of zero/reduced tillage farming systems.
Mr Hooke moved to Canberra in 1988 where he consecutively served as Chief Executive Officer of the Grains, Food and Grocery, and Minerals Councils of Australia (MCA), retiring from both the MCA and the International Council on Mining and Metals at the end of 2013.
As the Executive Director/CEO of the Grains Council of Australia he was instrumental in laying foundation to the more market-oriented grain marketing and handling arrangements out of the “heady” deregulation debates of the late-1980s and early-1990s. He was a key architect of the establishment of the Grains Research and Development Corporation, personally credited with the delineation of its agronomic zones transcending State borders, and the establishment of an ad valorem levy. He was also a key player in the agricultural negotiations of the Uruguay Round of Multilateral Trade Negotiations.
Mr Hooke attributes his time at the Grains Council as formative to his subsequent public policy advocacy and the promotion of industry best practice in the food and grocery, and mining industries. He became particularly recognised for his contribution to sustainable development in the mining industry, building on his foundations in the agricultural industry’s transformation in conservation farming.
Mr Hooke was the University of New England Distinguished Alumni for 2010, “in recognition of his contribution to the nation’s social and economic welfare through strategic leadership and development of public policy”.
He was subsequently appointed as a Member in the General Division of the Order of Australia (AM) on Australia Day 2016, “for significant service to business, particularly to the mining and minerals sector, to policy development, research and trade opportunities and to the Indigenous community”.
GPA Board Roles
Nominations & Remuneration, Strategic Planning.