Antinuclear

Probably illegal: any loan from the Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility (Naif) to Adani’s Carmichael coalmine project

Loan to Adani by infrastructure fund could be unlawful, says former clean energy head
Oliver Yates says any taxpayer money facilitating the proposed Carmichael coalmine carry reputational risks for the government, Guardian, Michael Slezak, 6 July 17, Any loan the Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility (Naif) gives to Adani’s Carmichael coalmine project would likely be unlawful, according to the former head of the Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC), which operated under an almost identical mandate.

Naif, which was set up to give $5bn of concessional loans to support the development of northern Australia, operates under an investment mandate that includes a clause saying it “must not act in a way that is likely to cause damage to the commonwealth government’s reputation, or that of a relevant state or territory government”.

An almost identical clause exists in the investment mandate for the CEFC, which has sought to give $10bn in concessional loans to support the growth of clean energy in Australia, saying it “has a responsibility to act in a way that is not likely to cause damage to the Australian government’s reputation”.

In December 2016 it was revealed Naif had granted “conditional approval” for a $1bn loan to Adani to finance a rail link between the Abbot Point export terminal and its proposed Carmichael project, which would be the biggest coalmine built in Australia.

Oliver Yates, who was the chief executive of the CEFC since its inception in 2012 until May this year, said that loan should never have progressed past the initial inspection by the Naif board, since it did not pass the reputation test.

He gave a laundry list of factors that would raise reputational risks for the government……. https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/jul/06/loan-to-adani-by-infrastructure-fund-could-be-unlawful-says-former-clean-energy-head

July 7, 2017 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | AUSTRALIA - NATIONAL, legal