Federal cabinet minister Ian Macfarlane insists there is nothing untoward in Liberal Party "cash for questions" emails revealed by a corruption inquiry.
The emails show that while the coalition was in opposition, Tony Abbott's chief-of-staff Peta Credlin used a major donor to the Liberal Party as part of its campaign against the carbon tax.
The NSW Independent Commission Against Corruption has heard that development company Brickworks used a shadowy Canberra organisation to channel $125,000 in illicit donations to the NSW Liberals for the March 2011 state election.
The emails reveal Ms Credlin was keen to use the concerns of Brickworks as the basis for carbon tax questions in parliament.
Labor has accused the coalition of taking "cash for questions".
But Mr Macfarlane says there is nothing untoward in the email.
"They're trying desperately to make a mountain out of a mole hill," he told ABC radio on Tuesday.
Shadow attorney-general Mark Dreyfus was reluctant to say whether trade unions which donate to Labor, had provided ideas for parliamentary questions.
"We think up our own questions, we don't need a donor to do that," he told Sky News.
The much larger concern was the "washing" of banned developer donations through the Free Enterprise Foundation.
"It appears it goes to the highest levels of the Liberal Party," Mr Dreyfus said.
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