Adelaide world's most liveable city: PM

PRIME Minister Tony Abbott says he regards Adelaide as the world's most liveable city.

Speaking at the South Australian Liberal Party's annual meeting on Saturday, Mr Abbott said the city had "great people, a great climate, terrific restaurants, art and culture".

"This city has got everything going for it except the strong economy that the people of South Australia deserve," he said.

Mr Abbott said it was important to SA for the new coalition government to scrap both carbon and mining taxes.

He said as long as those two measures remained in place there would be a "permanent handbrake" on the local economy.

The prime minister said without the carbon tax and the mining tax the chances of BHP Billiton proceeding with its major expansion of the Olympic Dam uranium and copper mine would also be enhanced.

"I can't guarantee that without the carbon tax and without the mining tax the Olympic Dam mine expansion will go ahead," he said.

"But I can guarantee that with the carbon tax and with the mining tax, it will never happen."

BHP Billiton put the $30 billion expansion on hold late last year ahead of advancing new mining technology to make the project financially viable.

On Saturday Mr Abbott also pledged to help fund the long-awaited north-south road corridor through Adelaide under a future Liberal state government.

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Emergency warning for Lithgow

A LARGE fire burning in Lithgow on the western side of the NSW Blue Mountains is threatening 20 properties, sparking an emergency warning.

The NSW Rural Fire Service (RFS) says the blaze, which has burnt through 30,000 hectares, is threatening properties in the small township of Bell and residents are advised to take shelter.

"Fire activity has intensified in the Bell area," a spokesman said.

"There's about 20 properties in the community of Bell which are under threat at the moment.

"We have upgraded it to an emergency warning and we're sending out emergency alert phone messages in that area right now."

The defence department is investigating whether there is a link between the fire and an explosives training exercise that took place at the Marrangaroo training area on the same day.

Premier Barry O'Farrell said he had not been briefed on the investigation.

An RFS spokesman told AAP there were no fire bans while Defence was holding the training on October 16 and that it occurred a day before extreme conditions were expected.

Mr O'Farrell said defence had been helping in dealing with the Lithgow fire because it broke out on defence land as explosives were being detonated.

"I do know that yesterday when we were in Lithgow being briefed by the incident controller, he made the point that the defence agencies had been helpful in dealing with the State Mine fire because it did start on defence land," Mr O'Farrell said.

"I know for a fact he told me that at one stage they stopped any aircraft flying over that area because of those exploding ordnances."

He said "there was no suggestion from the incident controller" that defence explosives testing had sparked the blaze.

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A Year in the Life of Grange book released

IF wine lovers think a bottle of Grange is expensive, how about the $4000 pricetag on a new Collector's Edition book on the acclaimed drop?

The handsome tome, A Year in the Life of Grange, was launched on Friday at Penfolds Magill Estate in Adelaide.

Professional photographer Milton Wordley spent two years following the production of the 2012 vintage from vineyard to the barrel.

He also went to tastings around the world where he was exposed to all vintages since Grange began.

In 1951, winemaker Max Schubert made the first vintage of what was to become Australia's most famous red wine, Penfolds Grange.

He died in 1994, so the book was launched by his daughter, Sandie Coff.

"This book provides a different approach to the Grange story and one that dad would have felt is a great honour to him and to those who assisted him develop the wine, those who followed him and those who continue his vision," Ms Coff said.

"Just as Grange opens up all the senses, so do the images and narrative in this work of art."

Wine writer Philip White provided the words while the book was designed by John Nowland.

Both Wordley and White knew Schubert and have followed the success of Grange over the years.

The book comes in three versions, with the Limited Edition (1000 copies) costing $785, around the price of a bottle of the current vintage.

There are 250 copies of the Winemaker's Edition, going for $1000.

The $4000 Collector's Edition, which is leather bound with a kangaroo hide spine, is limited to 100 copies.

It includes a folio of seven original museum grade "Giclee" photos, signed by the artist.

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Coalition promises add $1bn to budget: PBO

ELECTION commitments made by the victorious federal coalition will have a much more positive impact on the budget than expected, independent analysis shows.

The government's plans will add $7.1 billion to the underlying budget cash balance over the next four years - which is $1 billion bigger than first predicted.

The analysis released on Friday by the Parliamentary Budget Office (PBO) weighs up the spending and cuts promised by the main political parties ahead of the September 7 election.

"This analysis once and for all puts to bed the lies from the Labor party over numerous years that there was a black hole in the coalition's costings," Treasurer Joe Hockey and Finance Minister Mathias Cormann said in a joint statement.

"Labor's economic credibility has now been completely shattered."

The coalition's contribution to the budget was also far greater than the outcomes for Labor and the Australian Greens, the PBO found.

Labor's election commitments would have made a net positive contribution of $9.5 million to the budget, while the Greens' promises would have added just over $2 billion.

Mr Hockey will release the update of the May budget before Christmas.

It will show any revisions to the previous Labor government's forecasts for revenue, the budget balance and the economy.

The PBO said the most significant impact on the budget would be the coalition's commitment to scrapping Labor's 30 per cent minerals resource rent tax (MRRT) on big iron ore and coal producers.

"While removing the MRRT leads to revenue forgone of $3.5 billion over the forward estimates, this is more than offset by abolishing associated spending measures, resulting in a net increase of $13.8 billion to the underlying cash balance," it said.

Other major contributions to the budget will be a planned coalition reduction in the public service head count by 12,000 positions through natural attrition to save $5.2 billion.

The government also wants to limit growth in foreign aid to save $4.5 billion.

The biggest negatives to the budget will be the removal of Labor's carbon tax ($7.3 billion), a reduction in the company tax rate to 28.5 per cent ($4.9 billion) and the coalition's infrastructure package ($4.7 billion).

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Winds cut power to thousands in NSW

ABOUT 8700 homes west, south west and north of Sydney are without power, with wind gusts of up to 70km/h bringing branches down on powerlines.

Endeavour Energy on Thursday advised members of the public to stay well clear of fallen powerlines.

It has also advised residents in Lithgow, where a bushfire is burning, that it might need to isolate parts of its network as the fire passes through.

Customers who need electricity for life support equipment have been contacted.

"Our aim is not to panic our customers but to give them plenty of time to make alternative arrangements," it said.

In the Blue Mountains, power has been cut to about 4500 homes and businesses in Katoomba, Winmalee and parts of Leura, Blackheath and Mt Victoria.

In the Macarthur region, crews are working to restore power to about 1600 homes and businesses.

The worst affected areas at this stage are Wilton, Menangle and parts of Campbelltown.

In the Hawkesbury, strong wind has interrupted electricity supply to 1300 homes along the Hawkesbury River from Lower Portland and Maroota to St Albans.

Fallen powerlines can be reported by calling 131 003.

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Qld ports plan a con job: green groups

YOU could fill up the MCG 23 times over with the amount of material that's going to be dredged from the Great Barrier Reef, environmental groups warn.

Queensland's government has unveiled its draft ports strategy focusing on five established ports including Brisbane, Mackay/Hay Point, Gladstone, Townsville and Abbot Point.

Dredging outside of those areas would be prohibited for a decade, but dredging proposals within those areas and plans to dump dredged material on the reef would go ahead.

UNESCO has been warning Australia to rein in major coastal developments or risk having the reef listed as a World Heritage site "in danger".

Greenpeace slammed the strategy, unveiled on Thursday, calling it a "con job that did nothing to address the UN body's concerns".

"All of the current dredging proposals, which UNESCO is worried about, are within those five areas," spokeswoman Louise Matthiesson told AAP.

She claimed the amount of mud that would be dredged could fill the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) 23 times over.

"Don't forget they're still going ahead with major ports developments outside those areas that don't require dredging," Ms Matthiesson said.

"It's a game of smoke and mirrors, they're saying 'we will stop everything, except for the stuff that's already planned."

The Australian Marine Conservation Society warned that the dredging would kill the reef and cripple the tourism and fishing industries.

"No one is going to come from around the world to see the world's biggest coal ports," spokeswoman Felicity Wishart said.

The strategy is open for public comment until December 13 and legislation would be in place by next year.

Along Queensland's 7000 kilometre coastline, there are 20 ports including 15 trading ports, two community ports and three gazetted non-trading ports.

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Political chaos pushes US up against debt

The White House has rejected the latest effort by Republicans to resolve an impasse over the budget. Source: AAP

A DAY of political disarray has pushed America to within hours of a debt default deadline, but two veteran senators are chasing a last-gasp deal to stave off a sudden shock to the global economy.

Just 26 hours before the US government begins to run short of money to pay its bills, hopes for an exit strategy rested with late-night talks on Tuesday between Senate majority leader Harry Reid and Republican minority leader Mitch McConnell.

The two old foes saddled up after efforts by the House of Representatives to send a bill to the Senate dissolved into chaos, as Speaker John Boehner tried and failed to rein in Tea Party conservatives.

If Congress fails to raise US borrowing authority before midnight on Wednesday the US Treasury would begin to run out of money to meet all US obligations and slip towards a historic debt default.

In the face of the deadline, the US political system, divided between President Barack Obama's Democrats and Republicans who run the House of Representatives, has effectively ground to a halt.

Major world powers meanwhile looked on in dismay at the brinkmanship and political recriminations in Washington, fearing reverberations that could wreak havoc in their own sometimes weakened economies.

Amid rising anxiety on the markets, the financial rating agency Fitch put the US on warning for a downgrade from its top-grade AAA spot.

Despite the deepening impasse, Obama said he still expected the issue would be resolved in the end.

"My expectation is that this gets solved, but we don't have a lot of time," he told an ABC television affiliate in New York.

"What I'm suggesting to the congressional caucus is to avoid any posturing ... do what's right, open the government and make sure we pay our bills."

What was essentially a wasted day, with precious few hours to spare Tuesday, unfolded as House Republicans tried to extend US borrowing authority until February 7 and re-open the partially shuttered US government until December 15.

Several draft bills would have constrained aspects of Obama's signature health care law - and in effect stood no chance to pass the Democratic-led Senate.

But Boehner used the measures to try to corral the Tea Party faction and to pressure the Senate - but in the end was unable to amass sufficient Republican votes to even put the measures on the floor.

Senate talks, which had been on hold all day pending developments in the House, were quickly resumed on Tuesday evening.

Leadership aides on both sides said they were "optimistic" that an agreement was in reach.

"We're making very very good progress, we're not there yet, but we're getting real close," said Democratic Senator Chuck Schumer.

"I think the markets should feel pretty good about what's going on here tonight."

The likely Senate deal would require Democrats to make a minor concession on Obamacare, but the provision would fall well short of the drive to delay or defund the historic law which prompted Republicans to launch the government shutdown strategy and to use the debt ceiling hike as leverage.

Earlier, Reid furiously accused Boehner of seeking to save his own political skin at the expense of the United States.

"Let's be clear: The House legislation will not pass the Senate," Reid said. "I am very disappointed with John Boehner, who would once again try to preserve his role at the expense of the country."

Boehner may once again Wednesday be left with the unenviable choice that has come to define his speakership in Washington's divided government.

Does he stick with the Tea Party faction of his party, and possibly save his job but risk culpability in sending the US economy into a first default of modern times?

Or does he try to pass a compromise plan acceptable to Senate Democrats and Obama, with the help of minority Democratic votes - a scenario that could fritter away his party power-base and possibly cost him his job?

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