2017-06-14
Today in the Senate the Australian Greens successfully moved for an inquiry into the Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility (NAIF).
We will seek to have Adani front the inquiry to grill them on their appalling environmental history and the allegations of fraud, corruption and the use of tax havens, says Australian Greens Deputy Leader and Senator for Queensland, Larissa Waters.
“We will ask them why they need a billion taxpayer dollars if their deadly mega-coal mine is so financially viable.
“The application form for Adani’s billion loans to help their mega-coal mine was just one page.
“Despite that, we’ve seen the federal “Minister for Coal” Matt Canavan running around claiming that Adani had preliminary approval before any formal decision by the board.
“The administration of this $5 billion infrastructure fund has almost zero transparency, all decisions and applications are kept secret until after they’ve been approved.
“The NAIF isn’t about encouraging investment in Northern Australia, it’s about creating a slush fund to prop up the dying coal industry and appeasing the Trumps within the Coalition”.
The Senate Inquiry will examine
The Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility (NAIF) in regard to:
a) The adequacy and transparency of the NAIF’s project assessment and approval processes;
b) The adequacy of the NAIF’s Investment Mandate, risk appetite statement and public interest test in guiding decisions of the NAIF board;
c) The adequacy of processes used to appoint NAIF board members including assessment of potential conflicts of interest
d) The adequacy and transparency of the NAIF’s policies in managing perceived, actual or potential conflicts of interest of its Board members
e) The adequacy of the Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility Act and Investment Mandate to provide for and maintain the independence of decisions of the Board
f) The status and role of State and Territory governments under the NAIF, including any agreements between State and Territories and the federal government; and
g) any other related matters.
Media Release Mining and Resources