Justin Bold lashes out at Labor's 'dirt-finding machine'

A CLOSE associate of Campbell Newman claims to be the latest victim of Labor muck-raking.

Justin Bold

A CLOSE associate of Campbell Newman claims to be the latest victim of Labor muck-raking, and insists his new tolling venture has nothing to do with the former Brisbane lord mayor.

Consultant Justin Bold yesterday struck out at what he described as Labor's "dirt-finding machine", saying he was a fan but no longer financially entwined with the LNP leader.

Fraser ups ante with Spousal register

Mr Bold said the West End landlord for his new business interests, which include Bold Tolling, was contacted by what he described as a "non-state representative" within three days of the company being registered.

"Knowledge of someone searching, finding details so quickly and then contacting a landlord only to come to a dead-end highlights the size and scope of the dirt-finding machine that exists in politics," the 33-year-old said.

It is understood Mr Bold's business is based in the same building as Cutting Edge, a television production firm that Labor predominantly uses for its advertising.

The history between Mr Bold and Mr Newman stretches back to the late 1990s when the pair worked for GrainCorp. The pair subsequently established Aquosus Australia which, using technology that was the brainchild of a NASA scientist, promised to turn air into drinking water.

Aquosus was touted as having the potential to take bottled water market share from Coca-Cola, but both Mr Bold and Mr Newman resigned as directors in 2003. Mr Newman's wife Lisa joined the board and Aquosus remains listed on his latest interest register as a company owned by his consulting arm, Ultrex.

Mr Bold subsequently landed a role as the principal of finance and strategy at the Brisbane City Council while Mr Newman was lord mayor, and in 2009 went on a $22,000 ratepayer-funded overseas trip to sell the Northern Link tunnel proposal to investors.

He was briefly the chief of Brisbane Tolling, a BCC spin-off company, before leaving to establish his own business briefly before Mr Newman announced his bid to switch from council to state politics.

Mr Bold said Bold Tolling was an idea he had come up with at council to provide better products to motorists but it had nothing to do with Mr Newman.

"There is no investment, there is no kickback," he said. "I don't think Campbell is even aware of what I am doing."

Treasurer Andrew Fraser yesterday said Labor would continue to pursue the issue of Mr Newman's interests.

"These will be issues that will continue to be prosecuted because ultimately this goes to the core of integrity in government," he said.

FRASER UPS ANTE WITH SPOUSAL REGISTER

THE financial interests of state politicians' partners will be made available for the public to trawl through.

Deputy Premier Andrew Fraser yesterday announced new rules would be brought to State Parliament this week making spousal registers fully public for the first time.

While the registers of MPs are already publicly listed, those of their spouses were previously only available to political party leaders and oversight bodies such as the Crime and Misconduct Commission.

The move came amid the ongoing furore over Campbell Newman's interests.

The Courier-Mail yesterday revealed the LNP leader had bowed to pressure and released a fresh declaration of his affairs that detailed a previously undisclosed trust, properties and a company.

Mr Newman later called on the Bligh Government to release the pecuniary interests of Cabinet members' spouses, saying Labor needed to "look in their own backyard" when it came to transparency.

But Mr Fraser upped the ante, announcing spousal registers for the state's 89 MPs would become public.

"I'm more than happy for mine to be in the public arena and, given that the CMC and the Auditor-General and (Opposition Leader) Jeff Seeney can presently look at them, anyone should have no concerns with those being more broadly available," he said.