LNP leader Campbell Newman faces possible Crime and Misconduct Commission probe into his financial interests

CAMPBELL Newman faces a possible Crime and Misconduct Commission probe into his financial interests.

CAMPBELL Newman faces a possible Crime and Misconduct Commission probe into his financial interests as the political spite surrounding his family business interests boils over.

Treasurer Andrew Fraser yesterday referred the LNP leader to the state corruption watchdog.

In an extraordinary attack on Anna Bligh, Mr Newman labelled the Premier a "sleaze bucket" and her team "drunks, punks and desperadoes" who had engaged a "dirt unit" to discredit his bid to become Queensland premier.

The tirade came after The Courier-Mail yesterday revealed Mr Newman had not directly declared two luxury north Queensland units owned by a holding company in which he has a stake.

The report, which emerged from research by The Courier-Mail's reporters, showed the units in a beachfront complex were bought between 1994 and 1999 for a combined $500,000.

It was the latest in a string of revelations that Mr Fraser said raised "serious questions" about Mr Newman's interests.

In a letter to the CMC, Mr Fraser said Mr Newman might have committed "serious misconduct . . . or inappropriate conduct" by failing to declare the units and several other business interests while he was lord mayor of Brisbane.

He said there could be at least five breaches of councillor disclosure laws, including the failure to disclose non-financial interests as well as fin- ancial affairs.

Mr Newman yesterday continued to insist he had declared all he needed to and last night said he would "co-operate fully" if the CMC investigated.

"Anna Bligh is the one that's the muckraker, the dirt-digger, the sleaze bucket who won't run Queensland properly and has set up a dirt unit to go after my family," Mr Newman said early yesterday.

It took a bizarre turn moments later, when LNP candidate for Broadwater Richard Towson suddenly clutched Mr Newman's shoulder and said "sorry Cam" before collapsing.

Mr Newman jokingly blamed Ms Bligh for the fainting spell before turning to help the 33-year-old recover and later resuming his attack on the Premier.

He said Ms Bligh was the "desperado", Mr Fraser the "punk" and "you can work out who the drunks are".

Asked about reports his brother-in-law was being sued by a US company he allegedly claimed to be representing while touting for Queensland Government flood relief work, Mr Newman said he was "not my brother-in-law's keeper" and denied the controversy would hurt his election campaign.

But the LNP would soon reveal more details about the so-called "dirt unit", he said, suggesting it was being funded by taxpayers.

"There's definitely a dirt unit," he said.

"Anna Bligh's the person in July who said 'we won't be targeting Campbell Newman's family'. What a liar and what a hypocrite our Premier is."

While Ms Bligh dodged the furore, Mr Fraser took aim at his political rival from the tax summit in Canberra.

"If he wants to play in the kitchen then he's got to pay the price of admission and that is disclosing," he said.

"Queenslanders are entitled to know what his financial interests are because it is directly relevant to the way he would do the job."