"...if NRZ, long known to be a philanthropic organistion (RFDS,...

"...if NRZ, long known to be a philanthropic organistion (RFDS, local sporting teams etc.) were to donate significantly to the Australia Institute, then the Australia Institute would write only favourable things about the Leigh Creek project"

That's a good summation of my point, yes. It's called funding bias:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Funding_bias#:~:text=a%20particular%20conclusion.-,Examples,who%20acknowledged%20tobacco%20industry%20support.