Adani's proposed mine and rail lines. He said Labor supported the "sustainable development of the Galilee Basin". Fairfax Media requested an interview with Mr Pitt and sent his office a detailed list of questions including whether the Queensland government believed Adani's project was viable, whether it would investigate Treasury's concerns about Adani's corporate transparency, and whether Labor was prepared to offer Adani any finance or subsidies for its project. During the Queensland election campaign Labor pledged that it would not invest in a rail line connecting Adani's mine to coal terminals at Abbot Point. But sources have told Fairfax Media that Queensland's Department of State Development has prepared a briefing for ministers on alternative options for assisting Adani, including a so-called "royalty holiday" period that would save the company hundreds of millions of dollars if its mine goes ahead.

Indian billionaire Gautam Adani. Credit:Glenn Hunt "The views raised in the RTI documents relate to the former LNP government's interactions with or approach to Adani," Mr Pitt said. "They do not reflect the views of the current government or Queensland Treasury." Mr Pitt noted that one of the main authors of the correspondence, former under treasurer Mark Gray, no longer worked for Treasury. On the matter of assistance for Adani, he said: "We will meet all our election commitments on this project, both in terms of the dredging project at Abbot Point and not making direct government contributions towards funding the railway."

The revelations confirm digging up the Galilee Basin would be as disastrous for investors as it would be for the Reef and the climate. Greens senator Larissa Waters It comes as correspondence under the former government showed that officials in Treasury and the Department of Premier and Cabinet appeared to be excluded from major decisions. Instead, Mr Seeney's Department of State Development, Infrastructure and Planning (DSDIP) drove the proposal to help fund Australia's biggest new coal project. The documents released under freedom of information laws show a major breakdown in communication between DSDIP – led by Mr Seeney and director-general David Edwards – and the Department of Premier and Cabinet and Treasury. In an email on November 18, Jason Wishart, principal commercial analyst with Projects Queensland – a division of Queensland Treasury – wrote to Bernadette Zerba, the head of economic policy in the Department of Premier and Cabinet to say he had little detail of an investment proposal by the Newman government to help Adani fund its rail.

"I suspect that we've missed the train and this will continue to be a DSDIP only show," Mr Wishart wrote. The email was sent a day after Premier Campbell Newman and Mr Seeney pledged hundreds of millions in taxpayer funds to Adani's rail line, provided the company shared its infrastructure with other developers in the Galilee Basin. In an email the following day, David Quinn, the executive director of Projects Queensland responded to an inquiry from Craig Wilson, the senior executive director of the Premier's department. Mr Quinn wrote of the agreement between the government and Adani: "Not sure what it all means to be honest." On October 28, as Treasury officials were trying to conduct a full financial assessment of Adani, Mr Quinn wrote to then under treasurer Mark Gray after seeking information from DSDIP about the Adani funding proposal.

He wrote that the department's executive director Dennis Bird "was most reluctant to give me any detail or the actual paper that it was still being drafted". In another email on December 2, director-general of DSDIP Mr Edwards stressed to several senior officials in Treasury and Premier and Cabinet that he and colleague Steve Kanowski were to manage any communication with Adani. "It is also important that communications with Adani are carefully and sensitively managed and coordinated through Steve and me," Mr Edwards wrote. On December 3, Mr Wishart wrote to his colleagues that officials from Treasury and Premier and Cabinet had been "uninvited" to a meeting with Adani and DSDIP that afternoon. Earlier that day, Mr Gray wrote to Mr Wishart asking if David Edwards would attend another meeting that was scheduled for that morning.

"I would prefer to keep at arm's length and not get trapped into a set-up," Mr Gray wrote. Fairfax Media put a detailed list of questions to Mr Seeney about the correspondence and his department's relationship with Adani. Mr Seeney did not respond, but in a statement said: "There was no deal with Adani. There were negotiations and due diligence was under way as part of the negotiations for investment infrastructure. But it never got to the point of a deal." On Wednesday, environment groups and the Greens called for an investigation after the revelations that the Queensland government's own officials did no believe the project was viable. "The revelations confirm digging up the Galilee Basin would be as disastrous for investors as it would be for the Reef and the climate," Greens senator Larissa Waters said.

"The only person foolish enough to invest in this white elephant has been Campbell Newman, using Queenslanders' money against the advice of his Treasury. "Now Labor are treading the same path by using taxpayer money to dredge the Reef for the same unviable project, despite campaigning on 'saving the Reef' to win the election." Moira Williams, community campaigner for 350.org, said: "This explosive new information reinforces what we already know: Adani and our government will go to extraordinarily dodgy lengths to push ahead this risky proposal. "It's high time our government and banks publicly rejected this proposal like thousands of people and 11 international banks already have." An Adani spokeswoman said: "Adani developed and presented a strong and robust business case for these projects to the Queensland government."