Campbell Newman pressed on wife's links to business that touted Bligh Government for flood relief work

• Koren Helbig
• From: The Courier-Mail
• September 14, 2011 2:10PM

LNP leader Campbell Newman, with his wife Lisa. Picture: Sarah Marshall Source: The Courier-Mail

Campbell Newman has told of his mother-in-law's battle with schizophrenia as he defended his wife's business interests.

The LNP leader on Wednesday said his wife Lisa had been involved in her family's financial affairs since the 1980s because her mother was not capable.

He was responding to a report that  Mrs Newman helped set up a company that began touting for disaster recovery business from the Bligh government just over a week after the Brisbane floods. "She (Lisa) played a role that a spouse would play in the affairs, the financial affairs, of their family," Mr Newman said.

As Mr Newman faces mounting pressure to make a declaration to the parliament's pecuniary interest register, despite not being an MP,  The Australian reports that Mrs Newman was involved in the creation and ownership of a company trying to sell disaster management expertise and IT software.

Headed by Mrs Newman's brother Seb Monsour, the company was registered on January 21, a day after first offering its services to the government in assisting with the recovery from the January 12 floods. The company, initially registered as Invictus Solutions but now trading as Majella Global Technologies Asia Pacific, has not won any Queensland government work.

Mrs Newman was company secretary during the set up of Invictus Solutions, resigning several weeks later. Queensland Treasurer Andrew Fraser said the corporate involvement of Mr Newman's wife in the venture gave further cause for the LNP leader, who is leading the opposition from outside parliament, to make a full disclosure on the register.

"I feel it's an outrage that because her father has leaned on her to be involved in his personal business interests, that Andrew Fraser should continue to try to smear her, him, my brother-in-law and myself in this way," Mr Newman said.

Mr Newman again refused to release an updated register of his pecuniary interests but revealed the LNP was paying him less than his rival for the seat of Ashgrove, Kate Jones.

He refused to detail the exact amount, saying it was "private business", but said that was the only matter that had changed since he last released his pecuniary interests in April.

                          ____________________  |  ____________________