Government defends wind farm investment freeze

Environment Minister Greg Hunt has lashed out at reports he was left out of a decision to order the nation's clean energy bank not to invest in wind farms.

The federal government has mandated the $10 billion Clean Energy Finance Corporation to focus on new and emerging technologies over wind power projects.

Mr Hunt says the changed mandate is not new, but came part of the deal over the renewable energy target reached with the crossbenchers in June.

He denied the decision was made without his approval, saying he jointly approved it with Finance Minister Mathias Cormann.

"Claims that I have been angered are a complete, absolute and utter fabrication," he said on Twitter on Sunday.

The government originally wanted to scrap the corporation altogether but in the meantime is should focus on solar and emerging technologies, he said.

"I've been repeatedly critical of the CEFC investing taxpayer funds in projects such as existing wind farms, rather than focusing on solar and emerging technologies," the minister added.

Labor accused the prime minister of putting thousands of jobs and billions of dollars in investment at risk.

"Tony Abbott is abusing his office and the cabinet process by pursuing his own anti-wind ideology, enlisting fellow wind haters Joe Hockey to help bring down a whole industry," opposition environment spokesman Mark Butler said in a statement.

Wind farm groups said the "senseless" decision would spell the final nail in the coffin for the sector.

The Australian Wind Alliance added it was ironic it came over the same week the government approved the controversial $1 billion Shenhua Watermark coal mine in NSW.

"This is a government stuck firmly in the past, approving new fossil fuel projects as the rest of the world embraces wind energy," national co-ordinator Andrew Bray said.