Dutch team takes World Solar Challenge

The leading cars in the World Solar Challenge are expected to reach Adelaide on Thursday morning. Source: AAP

THE car finished in the rain, with the sun it runs on nowhere in sight, but that didn't matter to the Dutch Nuon team as they triumphed in the World Solar Challenge from Darwin to Adelaide.

The Nuna7 crossed the line on Thursday morning to claim the title with an average speed of more than 90.71km/h for the 3000km journey.

Bad weather slowed its progress on the final day but also caused problems for key rival, Tokai University from Japan.

At one stage, organisers said, the Japanese car ran out of power and was forced to pull over just north of Adelaide to recharge its batteries.

Tokai was still expected to finish second with Solar Team Twente, also from the Netherlands, heading to Adelaide in third place.

Nuon's win was the team's fifth from seven starts and its first in the challenge since 2007, after finishing second behind Tokai in both 2009 and 2011.

As well as 2007, Nuon, from the Delft University of Technology, won in 2001, 2003 and 2005.

A spokesman said while the weather had deteriorated on the run into Adelaide, the team had done its calculations to ensure it could reach the finish.

"We predict every second of the race. So we know exactly what weather is going to be where, how much is going to be in our battery and how much energy we're going to use with the speed we're driving at," he said.

"We actually calculated everything so that our battery would be fully empty finishing here and so that we could drive at the highest speed possible."

In the main challenger class only 10 teams were on track to complete the full distance, with 12 withdrawing because of mechanical or other issues.

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Origin to benefit from high gas prices

ORIGIN Energy is looking forward to the step change in earnings it will enjoy from 2015 due to rising gas prices and its liquefied natural gas project coming online.

The prospect of a gas shortage in NSW or at least high export parity prices has Australian east coast domestic users extremely worried.

Origin said on Thursday during an investor roadshow that it had already signed domestic gas supply contracts at export parity pricing - an estimated $6-$9 a gigajoule instead of the historical $3-$4 as the $70 billion suite of Queensland LNG export projects come online.

The company was also looking beyond the the $24.7 billion Australia Pacific LNG in Queensland that has dominated its focus in recent years and preparing to decide on new gas and renewable energy development opportunities.

They included gas opportunities such as Ironbark in Queensland and Halladale/Black Watch in the Otway Basin and the Stockyard Hill wind project in western Victoria.

The nation's largest energy retailer's underlying profit last year of $760 million came out of selling electricity and gas wholesale and retail and fell 15 per cent because of heavy discounting.

It forecast a lift in those earnings with NSW and Queensland expected to remove price tariffs over the next two years.

The APLNG would double cashflow and revenue, the company said.

"Origin's investment in APLNG will drive a step change in earnings," it said.

While there are warnings from NSW businesses that the state is facing a gas shortage, Origin signed a nine-year deal last month to buy more than $3 billion in gas from ExxonMobil and BHP Billiton to go to NSW representing more than one-third of its needs albeit at higher prices.

Origin's shares were 2.5 cents higher at $13.98 at 1430 AEDT.

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New jet simulators for Adelaide

A NEW jet simulation centre positions Adelaide as a focus for pilot training in the Asia-Pacific, the South Australian government says.

Flight Training Adelaide (FTA) on Wednesday opened a new facility at Parafield Airport, in Adelaide's northern suburbs, to house two flight simulators.

Both are capable of replicating flying an Airbus A320 aircraft or a Boeing 737-800.

Trade Minister Tom Kenyon says the simulators will ensure FTA remains one of the major pilot training schools in the southern hemisphere.

"They'll provide the most up-to-date training for a new generation of commercial airline pilots," the minister said on Wednesday.

As well as the new simulators, FTA operates 46 training aircraft and graduated 200 pilots last year.

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Qld govt has plan B over sex offender

THE Queensland government is considering tougher laws to ensure serial sex offender Robert John Fardon remains behind bars.

Attorney-General Jarrod Bleijie says he has a "plan B" if his appeal against Fardon's release fails.

Fardon was briefly freed last week after a Brisbane judge ruled he could be released under strict supervision orders.

But he was back behind bars a few hours later, after the attorney-general lodged an urgent appeal, saying he believed Fardon posed an ongoing risk to the community.

The 64-year-old has been serving an indefinite jail term for sex offences against women and girls dating back to 1967.

Court of Appeal judge Philip Morrison on Wednesday delayed a decision whether to grant Fardon freedom.

He adjourned the matter to Thursday, and extended the stay order to keep Fardon in prison until 4pm on Thursday.

A spokesman for Mr Bleijie told AAP there is a plan B but declined to go into details.

"We are not going to change the laws unless it's absolutely necessary," he said.

He did confirm the government is looking at whether the periodic 12-month review of whether to release dangerous sex offenders under supervision orders should be less frequent.

Fardon's barrister Dan O'Gorman expressed concern over media reports and criticised Mr Bleijie.

"It's inappropriate for the first law officer (Mr Bleijie) of this state to be using the media this way especially with the full knowledge the present proceedings is before this court," Mr O'Gorman said.

He did not oppose the delay but expressed concern that every additional day could be an additional day of freedom Fardon loses.

Justice Morrison told the court the main reason for Wednesday's delay was because a transcript was not available yet.

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Quake in southwest Sydney felt 38km away

AN early-morning tremor that shook Sydney's southwest was felt as far away as Wollongong, but there have been no reports of damage.

The 3.5 magnitude earthquake was felt at 7.15am (AEDT) on Tuesday, prompting about a dozen reports to Geoscience Australia.

Most came from Campbelltown residents, but a few were from as far away as outer Wollongong.

Senior seismologist Jonathan Bathgate said the quake was "in the ball park" range for the area's typical seismic activity.

With an epicentre 50km south-west of Sydney, about halfway between Campbelltown and Appin, it's estimated the tremor would have been felt up to 38km away.

It would have had the force to knock things off shelves and cause minor cracks, but was unlikely to cause any serious damage, Professor Kevin McCue of the Australian Seismological Centre said.

He said the shudder was not unusual as the southern highlands had experienced earthquakes up to magnitude 5.5 over the past few years.

The area has recorded about 50 quakes in the past 50 years.

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Morrison to inspect Nauru hospital

Immigration Minister Scott Morrison is to visit Nauru and will deliver a message to asylum seekers. Source: AAP

IMMIGRATION Minister Scott Morrison will inspect the Nauru hospital where an asylum seeker is expected to give birth to twins in several weeks time.

Mr Morrison will visit the hospital on his first visit to Nauru since the coalition formed government, the Nauru government told AAP.

Part of the island's only hospital burnt down in August in what is believed to have been an electrical fire.

The Australian government last week sent an asylum seeker who is 22 weeks pregnant with twins to Nauru.

After the hospital tour on Tuesday, Mr Morrison will dine with Nauru President Baron Waqa.

There are 801 asylum seekers being held on Nauru.

Mr Morrison is expected to visit three asylum-seeker camps, including the compound where families are held, on Wednesday.

Mr Morrison has sent a blunt message to asylum seekers arriving by boat without a visa, telling them they will not be coming to Australia.

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Pilot dies in NSW ultralight plane crash

A MAN has died in an ultralight plane crash in southwest NSW.

Ben Dumbrell, a well-known respected member of the Tumut community, was found dead inside the wreck of his ultralight on a property at Adelong at 6.15am (AEDT) on Monday.

The 65-year-old's family reported him missing on Sunday night when he hadn't been heard from since heading for Holbrook on Saturday morning.

Police say Mr Dumbrell was an experienced pilot who had piloted aircraft since he was 24.

The cause of the crash is not yet known, but it is believed to have occurred shortly after take-off.

The Australian Transport Safety Bureau has inspected the crash and a report is being prepared for the coroner.

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Beer-swilling WA pig meets tragic end

A BEER-SWILLING feral pig that made headlines for stealing six packs from tourists in Western Australia has met a tragic end.

Main Roads in the region confirmed on Monday the wild pig had been found dead after being hit by a truck near Port Hedland.

The pig, dubbed "Swino" by locals, had been hunted for weeks after raiding campsites at the De Grey River rest area in the South Hedland region last month.

"We had hoped he could become our mascot, so it is a sad end for him," Fionna Findley of Main Roads said.

"It is a very common occurrence for feral animals to get hit and killed by vehicles, but we are all a bit upset."

The pig was said to have drunk as many as 18 cans of beer in one session, before sticking his snout in bin bags to find late-night snacks left by tourists.

Witnesses even reported seeing the porcine predator picking a fight with a cow.

Officers had been trying to locate the animal, who had kept his snout clean since his booze-up a month ago.

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Lorde's debut album charts at No.1

THE top six albums in Australia's charts are all new entries for the first time in Aria Albums Chart history.

Lorde takes out the No.1 spot with her debut album Pure Heroine, scoring the third highest weekly sales of the year.

Also entering high with their debut album at No.2 is California trio Haim with Days are Gone.

New at No.3 is the tribute album Crucible - The Songs of Hunters & Collectors, which features covers by Birds of Tokyo, Eddie Vedder & Neil Finn, Cloud Control, Something for Kate, The Rubens and The Avalanches plus a disc of the originals by the band.

Justin Timberlake debuts at No.4 with The 20/20 Experience 2 of 2, while Birdy sees her second album Fire Within enter at No.5.

The final new entry to the top six at No.6 is We Are Young & Free from Hillsong Young & Free, one of the many musical groups within the Hillsong organisation.

So with only four positions within the Top 10 surviving from last week, we see Drake drop from No.2 to No.7 with Nothing Was the Same. Jason DeRulo is only down three places to No.8 with Tattoos, while Fuse for Keith Urban is down six places to No.9.

Last week's No.1 debut of Mechanical Bull for Kings of Leon drops to No.10.

On the ARIA Singles Chart, meanwhile, Katy Perry remains at the top for a sixth week with Roar, which equals her first No.1 I Kissed a Girl for longevity.

Roar also helps Perry become the equal second-longest running number one for 2013, as she now ties with Avicii's Wake Me Up.

Robin Thicke is the leader so far with Blurred Lines at eight weeks.

Competition for the No.1 spot this week comes from the No.2 debut for Jessica Mauboy, Pop a Bottle (Fill Me Up) ahead of her new album Beautiful, which is out this week. The song may well drop next week as people buy the album.

After two weeks at No.2, Miley Cyrus's highest charting single in Australia, Wrecking Ball, falls back to No.3, while also down a spot is Let's Get Ridiculous for Redfoo to No.4.

With Jason DeRulo in the country for a promo visit, his former No.1 Talk Dirty holds at No.5, whilst OneRepublic spend a third week at their peak of No.6 with Something I Need.

John Newman drops down three places to No.7 with Love Me Again after peaking at No.4 last week, Lana Del Rey is down a place to No.8 with Summertime Sadness, and Drake is down to No.9 with Hold On, We're Going Home, while recent visitors Karmin returns to the Top 10 at No.10 with Acapella.

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Coalition MPs' wedding travel costs $20k

IF the average Australian wedding costs $36,000, what should taxpayers make of paying almost $20,000 for five coalition MPs - including Prime Minister Tony Abbott - to attend three weddings?

Interim Labor leader Chris Bowen says the series of revelations about Mr Abbott, three of his ministers and a backbencher show a pattern of poor judgement.

"This goes to judgement of senior Liberals claiming travel expenses for what are very clearly, very clearly not legitimate travel expenses," he told reporters on Sunday.

"We all accept that mistakes can happen but this goes to a pattern of poor judgement and a pattern of a lack of transparency and disclosure."

Mr Abbott has paid back $1094 claimed for travelling to Wangaratta for then-Liberal MP Sophie Mirabella's wedding in 2006.

Ms Mirabella was set to be in Mr Abbott's cabinet but lost her seat at the recent federal election to independent Cathy McGowan.

A spokesman for Mr Abbott said he had recently repaid money claimed for the 2006 trip after the Department of Finance told him it could not guarantee he was entitled to it.

Likely speaker Bronwyn Bishop also attended the wedding.

Separate questions have arisen about the Bollywood adventure of three other coalition MPs which cost taxpayers more than $12,000.

Mining magnate Gina Rinehart flew Julie Bishop, Barnaby Joyce and Teresa Gambaro from Perth to Hyderabad in a private jet to watch the granddaughter of her business partner marry in front of 10,000 guests, Fairfax media reported on Sunday.

They later claimed travel expenses to return home.

Ms Bishop claims to have spent more time talking to business executives over the three days than she did attending the wedding, while Mr Joyce met officials in Malaysia on his way home.

It's the second wedding Mr Joyce attended which has come under scrutiny.

A week ago he and Attorney-General George Brandis paid back almost $2300 they got to cover travel to the 2011 wedding of former radio shock jock Michael Smith.

"This simply isn't good enough," Mr Bowen said of the series of wedding revelations.

"This money is only being paid back after journalists are asking questions, not because the individuals involved have decided on balance that it was an illegitimate claim."

But minister Malcolm Turnbull says his colleagues would have been "absolutely satisfied" they were doing the right thing when claiming the expenses.

However he conceded there was a degree of ambiguity in the rules.

"The better course of action is to always err on a more conservative side and if there is any doubt, then don't make a claim," he said.

"All of the colleagues that you have mentioned are people that are scrupulous about the way they use taxpayers' money and would have been absolutely satisfied that what they were doing was the right thing."

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