The Labour Party is asking why the Government did not act last year when Solid Energy's financial problems became apparent.
The State-owned coal company is now $389 million in debt and in talks with its bankers and the Treasury about a possible bailout.
State-owned Enterprises spokesperson Clayton Cosgrove said on Wednesday that SOE Minister Tony Ryall had been getting monthly monitoring reports on the coal mining company from June 2012.
But Mr Cosgrove said Mr Ryall did nothing despite getting reports about the company's difficulties.
He said the collapse of Solid Energy was not due to a drop in world coal prices alone - it was also because of mismanagement and a lack of government oversight.
