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Following the ALP campaign to discredit Campbell Newman over his financial affairs, Mr Newman has promised that if he wins the seat of Ashgrove, he will, within 90 days:

• Relinquish all interests and positions in private companies and/or transfer those interests to a blind trust.
• Ensure his self-managed superannuation is invested only in cash or managed index funds
• Continue to not personally invest in listed company shares.

His wife, Mrs Newman, has also stated:

• She will also give up all interests and positions in private companies and/or transfer those interests to a blind trust.
• She will also give up all interests in the family-owned Majella Enterprise Unit Trust, and will not invest in listed companies.
• She will also not accept any paid public service role while her husband is in office.  (This will no doubt be aimed at the fact that Anna Blighs partner, Greg Withers, was put in charge of a newly created Office of Climate Change in 2007 just one month after Ms Bligh became Premier, on a $220,000-a-year package. This appointment has also just been renewed for a further 5 years, in full knowledge that an LNP victory will see changes to that office and a termination payment will become payable (Ms Bligh’s spokesman said Mr Withers’s contract would yield a standard termination payment of between 15 to 20 per cent of his contract.  http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/elections/big-payout-forqueensland-premiers-partner-in-11th-hour-deal/story-fnbsqt8f-1226267174232)

 

Some people are wondering what a Blind Trust is.

A blind trust is a trust in which the fiduciaries, namely the trustees or those who have been given power of attorney, have full discretion over the assets, and the trust beneficiaries have no knowledge of the holdings of the trust and no right to intervene in their handling.

Blind trusts are generally used when a settlor (sometimes called a trustor or donor) wishes to keep the beneficiary unaware of the specific assets in the trust, such as to avoid conflict of interest between the beneficiary and the investments.

Politicians or others in sensitive positions often place their personal assets (including investment income) into blind trusts, to avoid public scrutiny and accusations of conflicts of interest when they direct government funds to the private sector.

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blind_trust

Some people have already begun to question this Blind Trust arrangement, however, what is OK for the ALP, should be equally OK for the LNP.

Blind Trusts appear to be in line with ALP policy:

The policy that was put in place under Peter Beattie was that all ministers should divest themselves of shareholdings and directorships of companies, with the exception of investments in blind trusts, that is, where the individual has no investment decisions on the money that they put into that mechanism. www.abc.net.au/worldtoday/content/2008/s2398223.htm

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