LNP leader Campbell Newman says CMC probe into his affairs a 'desperate act by a desperate government'

LNP leader Campbell Newman says Labor's decision to refer him to Queensland's crime watchdog is a desperate act by a desperate government.

LIBERAL National Party leader Campbell Newman says Labor's decision to refer him to Queensland's crime watchdog is a desperate act by a desperate government.

Deputy Premier Andrew Fraser on Wednesday referred Mr Newman to the Crime and Misconduct Commission (CMC) over his personal financial interests.

He wants the watchdog to look at whether Mr Newman breached the City of Brisbane Act while he was lord mayor by allegedly not declaring all relevant financial interests during his tenure.

Mr Newman has said he will cooperate fully if the CMC decides to investigate and maintains he's done nothing wrong.

"Mr Fraser has done this for political purposes,'' he told reporters in Brisbane on Thursday.

"He's the Labor treasurer of Queensland. He's fighting desperately to retain office after the Labor Party have been in charge in this state for 20 of the last 22 years.

"They're doing everything they can to try and stop themselves from being thrown out of office.''

Mr Newman again blamed Premier Anna Bligh's "dirt unit'' and Labor "operatives'' for being behind media stories that have pushed for Mr Newman to release a full list of his pecuniary interests, as MPs have to.

On Wednesday he launched an extraordinary attack on Ms Bligh, in which he called her a "sleaze bucket''.

On Thursday he declined to apologise or retract the statement.

He said he was frustrated over what he called a continued attack on his family and said others would judge whether his comments had gone too far.

There has been a string of revelations about Mr Newman's personal finances over the past month.

This week it was reported that Mr Newman did not directly declare that a family company in which he holds shares, Frome Holdings, bought units in Port Douglas for $500,000 while he was Brisbane lord mayor.
And last month, it was revealed that a company linked to Mr Newman's wife had sought unsuccessfully up to $30 million a year of disaster-related state government business after January's floods, while Mr Newman was still mayor.

Mr Newman publicly released an updated interest register on September 22, but Mr Fraser said he had failed to declare the units and several other business interests while he was lord mayor.

"In the end Campbell Newman wants to be in charge of the public purse in this state,'' Mr Fraser told ABC Radio on Thursday.

"It's a simple fact of life that he has a web of financial interests and irons in the fire everywhere ... the first thing that needs to be done is disclosure.''

Mr Fraser denied the existence of a "dirt unit'', after opposition treasury spokesman Tim Nicholls said Labor had employed an "operative'' to smear Mr Newman's reputation.

"We haven't pulled anyone out of a specialist Labor PR consultancy firm to come and save the bacon, which is what Labor is doing with this sort of gnome that is digging around, trying to find the dirt,'' Mr Nicholls told ABC Radio.

A CMC spokeswoman told AAP the watchdog had received Mr Fraser's letter and would look at whether an investigation was warranted.