Angus Taylor met with environment department even as it investigated company he part-owns

Exclusive: Energy minister denies interfering with department action over alleged illegal land clearing by company he partially owns with his brother

• Support our independent journalism with a single or recurring contribution

The energy minister, Angus Taylor, held talks with federal environment officials over an issue at the centre of an illegal land-clearing action brought by the same department against a company part-owned by him and his brother, Guardian Australia can reveal.

Taylor, who was minister for cities at the time, had meetings in 2017 to discuss the federal government's designation of a critically endangered grassland species.