Obeids 'thought they were running NSW'

Banker Gardner Brook has told ICAC the family of Eddie Obeid "thought they were running the state". Source: AAP

THE family of ex-NSW MP Eddie Obeid "thought they were running the state" and stood to earn a "bucketload" from an allegedly corrupt water deal, an inquiry has heard.

Former Lehman Brothers investment banker Gardner Brook turned star witness in last year's Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) probe into the Obeid family's dealings over a coal tenement at Mount Penny, which culminated in a corruption finding against Mr Obeid.

He was back in the ICAC witness box as the watchdog continued its investigation into another company with alleged Obeid links, Australian Water Holdings.

Mr Brook has testified that Mr Obeid's son Moses Obeid came to him in mid-2008 with a business opportunity - a water and sewerage venture that was going to bring in "a bucketload of money".

"(Moses) represented to me that the water deal eclipsed the coal deal," Mr Brook told the inquiry.

"Did he talk about a sum?" counsel assisting Geoffrey Watson SC asked.

"Over $100 million," Mr Brook replied.

Mr Brook told the commission he met with Mr Obeid, his son Moses, and former Labor MP Joe Tripodi in August 2008.

As the businessmen sat down, Moses told him: "This meeting is not happening."

"I felt very uncomfortable about that statement," Mr Brook said on Tuesday.

He added that he didn't understand it at the time - but has since figured it out.

"It's fairly obvious that these people thought they were running the state of NSW," Mr Brook said.

During an afternoon of heated cross-examination, a lawyer representing Moses Obeid suggested Mr Brook was suffering memory loss as a result of an accident in 2010.

But Mr Brook stood by his testimony.

"I am on the ball," he said.

"My recollection is sharp. Razor-sharp."

Mr Brook has also made a statement alleging Moses Obeid told him "he and his family had an ownership in Australian Water (Holdings) and that they had great influence over it".

The inquiry continues.

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Palmer says carbon tax bill has been paid

Clive Palmer says Queensland Nickel's $36 million carbon tax bill has been paid. Source: AAP

CLIVE Palmer has rejected claims that one of his companies, Queensland Nickel, is at risk of being shut down by federal authorities for failing to pay a $36 million carbon tax bill.

A report in The Australian newspaper said government agencies were moving to force the company into insolvency if it could not pay the bill.

But Mr Palmer said Queensland Nickel had already paid the bill to the Clean Energy Regulator, well before the April 5 deadline.

"It was authorised to be paid this week," he told reporters in Perth on Tuesday.

"It was well before the due date."

Mr Palmer said he did not know exactly when the authorisation was made because he had been in Perth since Sunday, but denied the bill was paid last minute.

"Do you pay your tax months in advance?" he said.

"Most people will pay their tax just before it's due and that's what our company's decided to do."

Asked if it was related to the media inquiry that prompted the newspaper article, Mr Palmer said he had not received an inquiry from the media.

He added that Queensland Nickel would continue with its High Court challenge to the legal validity of the carbon pricing scheme.

A spokesperson for the Clean Energy Regulator told AAP on Tuesday the agency had been advised by Queensland Nickel that the company had "made a payment towards the outstanding debt" to the CER.

"However, at this stage we cannot confirm that we have received any payment from Queensland Nickel," the regulator said.

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New home sales at near three year high

NEW home sales are at a near three year high, driven by a boom in detached house sales.

Detached house sales jumped 6.9 per cent in February, according to data from the Housing Industry Association.

That led to an increase in total new home sales of 4.6 per cent, seasonally adjusted - the highest level since May 2011.

Sales of multi-units fell 6.8 per cent.

The construction of detached houses creates more jobs than multi-units.

"Both sales and building approvals for detached housing are signalling faster momentum ahead for this component of new dwelling construction, compared to what was evident in the first phase of the recovery," HIA chief economist Harley Dale said.

"This signal suggests more balanced growth ahead in the composition of new home building and adds a further positive dimension to the recovery for many of Australia's manufacturers and suppliers."

Dr Dale said the housing recovery was spreading across the country, having previously been dominated by NSW and Western Australia.

In the three months to February, detached house sales in South Australia were up by 32.5 per cent and by 19.8 per cent in Queensland.

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SA still on target for surplus in 2015/16

NEWLY returned South Australian Premier Jay Weatherill says his government still expects to return the state budget to surplus in 2015/16 - it's just not a promise.

Mr Weatherill says the government's finances are on track but achieving budget forecasts ultimately depends on the economic conditions at the time.

"Of course it's a forecast and we expect to achieve it," Mr Weatherill told reporters on Monday.

"But we're not going to elevate it to the status of a promise. It depends on the circumstances that we find ourselves in.

"All the advice is that we're tracking well to achieve it. As we get closer to it, it becomes even more likely that we will achieve a surplus in that year."

Mr Weatherill made the commitment to a surplus when he delivered his only state budget as treasurer last year.

After the government was narrowly returned at the March 15 state election, he handed the treasurer's job to Tom Koutsantonis.

Mr Koutsantonis will hand down his first budget on June 19 when the final cost of the Adelaide Oval redevelopment will be revealed.

The premier says the stadium, which was budgeted to cost $535 million, will actually come in under that figure.

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Mormons join Holi colour festival in US

Thousands of Mormon students are taking part in Holi Festival of Colours in the US state of Utah. Source: AAP

TENS of thousands of people have gathered at a Sri Sri Radha Krishna Temple in Spanish Fork for the start of an annual two-day festival of colours in the US state of Utah.

Revellers danced to music, practised yoga and threw coloured corn flour in the air once every hour during the all-day Holi Festival of Colours.

The large majority of participants are not Hindus, but Mormons, The Salt Lake Tribune reported.

Thousands of students from nearby Brigham Young University take part in the festival, which is expected to draw 70,000 people.

The event stems from a Hindu tradition celebrating the end of winter and the triumph of good over evil.

"It's an opportunity for young LDS (Mormon) kids to come and celebrate their spirituality without alcohol or drugs," said Caru Das, the temple's priest.

Das said the event feels more like a rock concert than a religious ceremony, particularly with live music.

He appeared frequently on stage, exhorting crowd members to give hugs to strangers and not to think of themselves as ordinary.

"Each and every one of you is lovely and brilliant. No exceptions," he said.

"This festival is to remind you who you are."

The festival gives participants a chance to gain exposure to Hindu chants and beliefs while plastering others with dust of many vibrant colours that costs $US3 ($A3.25) per bag or $US12 for five bags.

The hourly throwing of rainbow-hued corn flour leaves participants drenched in colour.

"It's a place for your inner child to come out," Robynn Kirkham, a Pleasant Grove accountant who runs a construction company, told The Tribune.

Ranjan Khurana and his wife, Anu, came from Boise, Idaho, because friends in the Spanish Fork Hindu congregation raved about how electrifying the event has become.

"It's vibrant, and everybody is just so cheerful," Anu Khurana said. "It's a blessing that so many people are here celebrating the colours."

Student Haylee Buchanan said she has attended the event with friends and likened it to a big party.

"I wish that I could have read information on why and what they are celebrating," she said, "because it was fascinating."

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ALP-union member rules 'crazy': Plibersek

Deputy leader Tanya Plibersek says the Labor Party should not be putting up barriers to members. Source: AAP

DEPUTY Labor leader Tanya Plibersek says the party should in some circumstances open up its membership to those not in a union, saying it would be "crazy" not to welcome them.

Opposition leader Bill Shorten has said he wants to double the ALP's membership from 44,000 to 100,000, and according to News Corporation will soon announce changes to the party's membership rules.

He wants to scrap rules - often ignored by the party's branches - which restrict membership to those who belong in a union.

The largely symbolic reforms would further limit the party's links to a union movement, soon to be subject of a royal commission into governance and corruption.

Ms Plibersek said the ALP needed to recognise that for the likes of the self-employed, retirees and the unemployed there was no natural union in which they could be members.

"If the only barrier to someone joining the Labor Party is that there's not a natural union for them to join, then that's a crazy reason for not welcoming them into the Labor party," she told Sky News on Sunday.

"We're interested in increasing membership, opening up to people."

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PM sympathetic to Egypt, supports Greste

PM Tony Abbott has reached out to Egypt in the case of Australian journalist Peter Greste (pic). Source: AAP

PRIME Minister Tony Abbott has told the Egyptian president that detained Australian journalist Peter Greste was simply doing his job, while also expressing sympathy for the strife-torn country as it grapples with the Muslim Brotherhood.

Greste, a reporter with the Al Jazeera television network, was arrested in Cairo on December 29 along with two colleagues with the trio accused of spreading false news and supporting the black-listed group.

Mr Abbott on Saturday revealed details of his call to interim Egyptian President Adly Mansour on Thursday night, saying he had conveyed that he had a lot of sympathy with the Egyptian government and that in Australia's view, the Muslim Brotherhood was linked to terrorism.

"Second point I made was at least from this distance, Peter Greste was doing his job," he said.

"He wasn't taking sides.

"He was simply doing his job and it is the job of a free media to report the facts as they find them and that is what he was doing."

Mr Abbott said the president conceded he couldn't interfere in his country's justice process but was confident the matter would be resolved swiftly.

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