The controversy about the Turnbull government's $443 million grant to the Great Barrier Reef Foundation to protect the natural wonder from the ravages of climate change seems to be underpinned by a suggestion that no one in the business world gives a stuff about the environment.

References to the reef charity and its board of directors, which includes corporate heavyweights and top scientists from across the political spectrum, is often littered with phrases such as "links to fossil fuel companies" and big banks.