Former Treasurer Peter Costello believes the Keating government was ''hoodwinked'' into believing Australian interests would be preserved under the 1995 agreement that created the modern Rio Tinto, as the miner's former boss Leigh Clifford called for the next chief executive to have an active voice in national affairs.

Rio's relationship with Australia has been in the spotlight since Friday's ousting of French-born chief executive Jean-Sebastien Jacques and chairman Simon Thompson's admission that Rio needed to boost its engagement with Australian investors.