The Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility allegedly ignored its lending rules on at least two investments, and later pressured an employee who raised concerns to quit in a bid to avoid embarrassment while it sought about $2 billion in additional funding from the federal government.

The NAIF reviewed several loans it had written over the past 18 months but when some were deemed a potential concern – meaning the borrower could struggle to repay the debt – staff played down the severity of the borrowers’ creditworthiness, according to documents filed as part of an unfair dismissal claim lodged with the Fair Work Commission.