The federal government and Labor have used their numbers to block an inquiry into which companies or individuals control Australia's largest coal development.
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Greens senator Larissa Waters accused the opposition on Monday of being too close to the mining industry after it failed to support an urgent investigation into the ownership structure of Indian company Adani's Carmichael coal project in Queensland.
The Greens had called for an inquiry into the Indian mining giant's financial affairs after a Fairfax Media investigation raised questions about the ultimate ownership of the Abbot Point development, which has been the subject of fierce opposition from environment lobbies because of its proximity to the Great Barrier Reef.
Crossbench senators Jacqui Lambie, Ricky Muir, Nick Xenophon and the Palmer United Party voted in favour of the Greens' calls to establish which entities control the development and whether Adani's environmental track record in India had been properly considered by Environment Minister Greg Hunt.
Monday was the second attempt by the Greens to have the matter investigated.
Senator Waters said on Monday she had changed the wording of the motion to accommodate concerns raised by Labor, only to have the opposition vote against the proposal anyway.
"Why is it so hard for the major parties to support an urgent investigation into which entity owns these massive projects, which are both environmental and climate disasters?" Senator Waters said on Monday.
"It's incredibly frustrating that Labor has refused to support this motion the second time round, after we changed the wording to accommodate to their stated concerns.
"It seems the opposition is just making up excuses about technicalities and the real reason they won't support our motion is because the big mining companies have a hold over Labor, just like they do the government."
Adani has repeatedly stressed that the ownership of its developments has not changed and that the ownership of its lease at Abbot Point is "consistent with its stated position advised to every relevant regulatory authority in Queensland, Australia, and India".
A Fairfax Media investigation found company documents suggest billionaire Gautam Adani does not ultimately control many of the companies associated with his company's Australian coal developments. Instead his eldest brother, Vinod Shantilal Adani, holds pivotal positions.
Vinod has been named in an Indian criminal investigation into the alleged siphoning of $1 billion from Indian shareholders in three Adani companies into offshore accounts.
A web of companies that appear to be linked to Adani's coal developments in Australia extends from the low tax regime of Singapore to the tax haven of the Cayman Islands.
Complicating matters is conflicting paperwork, with Indian documents suggesting Adani Enterprises divested its stake in Abbot Point port for $235 million in 2013 to a private Singapore entity for which Vinod is the sole director.
