Josh Frydenberg says two-stage due diligence conducted before reef grant

Under pressure from Labor, minister proffers timeline of grant decision-making

The environment minister, Josh Frydenberg, says his department conducted two stages of due diligence on the Great Barrier Reef Foundation before he approached the organisation on 9 April to offer $443.8m in funding.

Under pressure from Labor in the House of Representatives on Monday, the environment minister proffered a timeline of his decision making. It came after Frydenberg said on Sunday extensive due diligence had been done ahead of awarding the controversial grant, and the managing director of the foundation said on Monday she was unaware of that due diligence process and no one from the government had contacted her.