Need for transparency as 'slush fund' allegations get bandied about | Lenore Taylor

If the Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility hasn't got a risk policy yet, how can it be considering a $1bn loan for the Adani project?

We don't yet know whether the $5bn Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility (NAIF) will be - as was alleged in parliament this week - a "slush fund" used to pursue the government's "pro-coal agenda".

But we do know some government ministers are absolutely determined to promote coal mining and generation - in particular the Indian conglomerate Adani's $21bn Carmichael coalmine in Queensland - without a thought for how it will contribute to the global warming that is bleaching the Great Barrier Reef up and down the Queensland coastline and increasing the intensity of cyclones.