The Federal Government may reboot an inquiry into the climate policies of Australian banks. 

Federal resources minister Keith Pitt has reportedly broadened the terms of reference for the inquiry, calling on the joint standing committee on trade and investment growth to investigate finance for all export industries.

The bid to launch the inquiry stalled last year after the joint standing committee said that some in the government were not in favour of what they saw as a witch-hunt against banks managing carbon risk.

Mr Pitt had called on the committee to grill financial regulators, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC), the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA), and the major banks, about their disinterest in lending to or insuring mining projects because of climate change.

Many big investors are moving away from projects linked to high carbon emissions and a changing climate. The latest move came just this week, when ANZ bank pulled out of funding the Port of Newcastle - the largest thermal coal terminal in the world. 

The decision to move away from heavily risk-exposed industries has outraged Nationals MPs in particular, with agriculture minister David Littleproud calling for a boycott of ANZ and deputy prime minister Michael McCormack calling the economic decision “virtue signalling”.

The joint committee - which is chaired by Queensland Nationals MP George Christensen - will determine its next steps when it meets next week.

“As a minister of the crown, I expect the committee to do its job,” Mr Pitt said in December.