Fast trains will need govt cash: expert

A French train manufacturer says it's difficult to attract private funding for fast train projects. Source: AAP

FOR very fast trains to ever leave the station, Australian governments would have to foot most of the $114 billion price tag.

A leading French train manufacturer says in the current environment public-private partnerships (PPPs) don't work for very high speed rail projects.

They are too expensive and take too long to give returns even if the venture is profitable, Alstom Transport president Henri Poupart-Lafarge says.

The amount of private equity is beyond the capacity of almost all investors and the debt takes 30 or 40 years to mature.

"Even in Australia, which is the country of a number of infrastructure funds and big funds like Macquarie and so forth, I'm not sure they would be in a position to really put this amount of money in," he told reporters in Paris.

An Australian government report released last year on the proposal to link Brisbane, Sydney, Canberra and Melbourne by high speed rail estimated it would cost $114 billion and not be finished until 2065.

The Abbott government has indicated its support and started to preserve a land corridor for the line.

Mr Poupart-Lafarge said it was important to have airports on board with high speed rail projects for them to be effective. But this was unlikely if airports didn't have congestion problems.

"Where it works with very high speed is because the airports themselves are happy to see some short distance trips being taken out of their own platforms to allow some space for the long distance ones," he said.

"If you have no limit on your airport capacity then it's more complex."

Around the world, there was a lot of excitement about high speed rail about 10 years ago but there is no market now.

Mr Poupart-Lafarge cited the case of Brazil, where the government is now guaranteeing 95 per cent of the financing for its high speed rail project.

It started with a full PPP, then took out the infrastructure component when it couldn't attract private investors.

Later the government said it would guarantee 70 per cent of the debt for operations and maintenance and contribute a substantial part of the capital.

"It's a PPP except it's a very, very small P for private and a big P for public," Mr Poupart-Lafarge said.

In Argentina, the enthusiasm for high speed rail has waned as people wondered whether the government wouldn't be better off spending the money on upgrading existing urban rail lines.

A similar argument is happening in India.

However, he said the perennial issue in Australia was not yet a lost case, with a growing appetite for public transport.

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Man's death on Vic road 'not suspicious'

THE death of a man found unconscious in the middle of an outer suburban Melbourne road is not suspicious, police say.

The homicide squad was called in after the 20-year-old was found on the road outside a Pakenham property about 10pm on Tuesday.

Paramedics performed CPR for 40 minutes but the man couldn't be revived, an Ambulance Victoria spokeswoman said.

Police have now determined that the Pakenham man's death is not suspicious, after a post-mortem examination was conducted on Wednesday.

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Turnbull blasts artists' boycott threat

AN Abbott government minister has taken to task a group of artists who threatened to boycott the Sydney Biennale over its sponsorship arrangements with corporate giant Transfield.

"I think it's extraordinary ... the sheer vicious ingratitude of it all," Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull told ABC Radio.

The Biennale board severed its sponsorship agreement with Transfield on the back of pressure from a group of artists and their supporters, who objected to Transfield's role in managing offshore asylum seeker detention centres at Nauru and on Manus Island in Papua New Guinea.

Transfield had supported the contemporary arts event since its inception in 1973.

Biennale chairman Luca Belgiorno-Nettis, an executive director of Transfield Holdings, resigned as a result of the situation.

Mr Turnbull said if the artists had a problem with the government's asylum-seeker policies they should boycott any arts events that accepted any funding from the federal government.

Biennale is also sponsored by the Australia Council, the government-funded national arts funding agency.

"Transfield doesn't make government policy," he said, adding the company was fulfilling a contract for the government.

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We'll survive ore price drop: BHP

Global miner BHP Billiton plans to sell its African iron ore assets. Source: AAP

GLOBAL miner BHP Billiton says it's in a good position to weather steep iron price falls, despite predictions of more pain to come.

Analysts have forecast more falls as the iron ore price reached $US105 per tonne on Tuesday, with Citi analysts predicting an average price of $US80 in 2016.

BHP Billiton president of iron ore Jimmy Wilson said while 50 per cent of the company's earnings came from iron ore, the global miner was diversified enough to handle price fluctuations and maintain its forecasts.

"The iron ore price we see going down," Mr Wilson told reporters on the sidelines of an iron ore conference in Perth.

"The magnitude of that number... $US80 per tonne feels a little low.

"We don't make forecasts like that."

Mr Wilson said he did not see the current dip as a down cycle.

"There's a lot of fluctuations coming through the market."

The world's largest mining company is still targeting overall iron ore production of 212 million tonnes per annum in full year 2014.

Mr Wilson said the current credit issue in China and reasonably high iron ore stocks had led to the price decrease.

"I do think we'll see it come down but it will come back up and steady out.

"Our view is the long-term is still very robust. We shouldn't let today's price influence our long-term thinking."

However, Mr Wilson conceded the company's iron ore division had limited protection if Chinese buyers stopped paying for iron ore shipments. BHP protects itself by asking for letters of credit.

"We have assurances around each of the cargoes. We're reasonably protected."

Over time BHP Billiton's customers in Japan and China had continued to pay their bills, with very few defaults, he said.

"We'll certainly survive this," he said.

Mr Wilson added that lower prices would probably affect BHP much less than some of its peers in Western Australia.

And he said this year global supply of iron ore would exceed demand.

BHP's growth plans were conservative and focused on squeezing more from existing assets.

The company says the current price dip will not affect its future iron ore expansion to 260-70 million tonnes per annum in the Pilbara.

"I'm pretty confident of our investment opportunities."

Mr Wilson also said BHP Billiton would not have to make any adjustments to its business if the current iron ore price is maintained over the short to medium term.

"Obviously we would keep going hard at cost reduction, but we're doing that anyway."

The company would continue to push higher volumes and was not looking to cut jobs as a result of the recent fall in prices.

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Abuse survivor shocked by Pell's response

A NSW hearing will examine the response of the Catholic Church to John Ellis's claim of child abuse. Source: AAP

A VICTIM of sex abuse says Archbishop George Pell "slammed a door in his face" when he tried to pursue a claim against the church.

An inquiry in Sydney has been told in the initial stages of a complaint against the Catholic Archdiocese of Sydney by abuse survivor John Ellis, Cardinal Pell wrote to him saying the case could not be resolved because the priest concerned was in no state to respond.

The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse is examining Mr Ellis' experiences when he went through the church's internal process Towards Healing and then civil litigation.

Mr Ellis, a lawyer, was sexually abused between 1974 and 1979 when he was between 13 and 17-years-old by Aidan Duggan a Catholic priest at Bass Hill, in Sydney's west.

Mr Ellis had been groomed by him while the priest was in Sydney on leave from an abbey in Scotland.

Fondling and touching turned to frequent serious assault.

The experience had a profound effect on his personal and professional life, the commission heard.

Mr Ellis approached the church's Professional Standards Office (PSO) in 2002 to avail of the pastoral and redress options available under Towards Healing.

An initial investigation resulted in a letter from the then archbishop, Cardinal Pell.

The letter which has been tabled at the inquiry said: "On the one hand there is your allegation and on the other, Father Duggan cannot respond, and we have no records of complaints of this kind against him".

It also said: "It is clear now that Father Duggan is in no state to respond to the charges against him and that the facts of the matter cannot be established".

Mr Ellis said when he received Cardinal Pell's letter he "thought a door had been slammed in my face".

He later wrote to the PSO expressing his shock at the letter, which arrived on Christmas eve.

A month after Cardinal Pell's letter, Mr Ellis' mother, who knew nothing about the abuse, had visited Fr Duggan and said she found the retired priest in good spirits.

His mother told him she found the priest "frail but in good spirits" and he had recognised his old friends from Bass Hill.

Mr Ellis said he was extremely upset and emotional about the letter.

He said at no time was he ever asked for corroborative evidence and felt his own details should have been assessed on merit.

He also thought Fr Duggan, who had dementia, was going through a lucid period and could have been interviewed.

Mr Ellis later attempted to sue Cardinal Pell and the trustees of the Catholic Archdiocese of Sydney but failed on both counts and the 2005 finding has been interpreted by some as creating a church immunity from prosecution over abuse.

In her opening address to the hearing Gail Furness SC, counsel advising the commission, on Monday outlined Mr Ellis' journey through Towards Healing and later the court cases.

"The manner in which this litigation was conducted caused harm and suffering to Mr Ellis. Concern for Mr Ellis' well being was not apparent at the time of litigation from either the Archdiocese or Cardinal Pell's chosen solicitors," she said.

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Council demands action after record summer

The Climate Council says the scorching summer shows a need for action on climate change. Source: AAP

THE Climate Council says Australia experienced "another angry summer" this year, with more than 150 temperature records broken.

The environmental group's report Angry Summer will be released by Professor Tim Flannery on Monday, who said Australia witnessed substantial heat records, heatwaves and extreme weather events over the season.

According to the report, Sydney had its driest summer in 27 years, and Melbourne experienced its hottest ever 24 hour period with an average temperature of 35.5 degrees celsius.

Perth had its second hottest summer and its hottest ever night, and Adelaide suffered through a record 11 days of 42 degrees or more.

Meanwhile, towns from Tamworth to Mount Gambia to Roma all broke records for the daily maximum temperature.

Professor Flannery said the scorching summer was part of an overall trend of more extreme weather events in Australia, and called for action on cutting carbon emissions.

"The latest summer was an another example of climate change tearing through the record books," he said in a statement.

"If we want to stop them getting worse this is the critical decade for action."

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Happy leads singles chart for ninth week

Pharrell Williams' hit Happy holds the top spot in both the ARIA singles and albums charts. Source: AAP

IT didn't win the Oscar but Pharrell Williams' hit Happy still holds the top spot on the ARIA singles chart.

Williams' single, which features in the animated film Despicable Me 2, lost the Best Original Song Academy Award to Let It Go, from the movie Frozen, last Sunday, but Happy is in its ninth week at No.1.

Close behind the catchy tune is Clean Bandit and Jess Glynne's Rather Be, which remains in second place.

Sara Bareilles continued her rise on the charts, with her song Brave climbing three places to No.3, while David Guetta's Shot Me Down made its top 10 debut at No.4.

The French DJ's track, which features American singer-songwriter Skylar Grey, jumped up a whopping 23 places.

Say Something by A Great Big World and Undressed by Kim Cesarion each fell down a place to No.5 and No.6 respectively.

Sydney pop-punk quartet 5 Seconds of Summer's hit She Looks So Perfect also moved down the charts, falling four places to seventh place.

Cash Cash's Take Me Home remains in eighth place, while Swing by Melburnian Joel Fletcher fell two spots to No.9.

John Legend's All of Me slipped a place to round out the top 10.

On the ARIA albums chart, Aussie rockers INXS remain at No.1 for the fourth consecutive week with their collection The Very Best.

Pharrell Williams' new album G I R L, which the American rapper said was inspired by and is dedicated to women, made its top 10 debut at No.2, while Prism by Katy Perry, who was in Australia earlier in March, jumped up six places to No.3.

The pop singer was in town to promote her Prismatic World Tour, which kicks off in Australia on November 7 in Perth.

The Frozen soundtrack remains in fourth place, while Unorthodox Jukebox by Bruno Mars, who is currently touring the country, jumped up 19 places to No.5.

Also making significant leaps up the chart are Rudimental's Home, which climbed five places to seventh place, and Avicii's True, which rose eight places to No.8.

Robbie Williams' Swing Both Ways fell four places to No.6, while Australian church group Hillsong United made its top 10 debut with its new The White Album at No.9.

Eminem's The Marshall Mathers LP2 fell three places to round out the top 10 on the albums chart.

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Malaysia launches terror probe over plane

Vietnamese planes have spotted two large oil slicks in the sea near where a Malaysian jet vanished. Source: AAP

MALAYSIA has launched a terror probe into the disappearance of a passenger jet carrying 239 people and the United States has sent the FBI to investigate, as anguished relatives beg for news of their loved ones.

Six Australians and two New Zealanders are among the missing passengers.

Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 vanished from radar early on Saturday somewhere at sea between Malaysia's east coast and southern Vietnam. Search teams were still hunting for the plane, and the airline said it was "fearing the worst".

Concern over a possible security breach grew as Malaysia's government said it was investigating four people who were on the Boeing 777 plane.

At least two passengers boarded using stolen European passports, officials and reports have said.

"At the same time our own intelligence have been activated, and of course, the counter-terrorism units ... from all the relevant countries have been informed," Malaysia's acting transport minister Hishammuddin Hussein told reporters.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation is sending agents and technical experts to assist the probe, US media reported.

US officials told The Los Angeles Times that they were trying to determine whether there was any terror link to the flight's disappearance, but stressed there was no evidence to support that yet.

"Just because they (the passports) were stolen doesn't mean the travellers were terrorists," a Department of Homeland Security official told the paper.

"They could have been nothing more than thieves. Or they could have simply bought the passports on the black market."

Asked to confirm the reports, an FBI spokesman said: "We are ready to assist if needed."

The flight went missing about an hour after taking off from Kuala Lumpur, bound for Beijing. A total of 153 Chinese nationals were on board, and relatives camped out at the main international airport in China's capital bemoaned the lack of news on Sunday.

"The airline company didn't contact me, it was a friend," a middle-aged woman surnamed Nan told reporters, holding back tears, after finding out her brother-in-law was on the flight.

"I can't understand the airline company. They should have contacted the families first thing," she said.

Vietnamese boats reached the scene of two large oil slicks detected overnight but found no sign of the plane, army deputy chief of staff Vo Van Tuan said early on Sunday, adding search aircraft were deployed at first light to scour the area.

The search area had been expanded to 10,000 square kilometres, Vietnam's Civil Aviation Department said.

However, Azharuddin Abdul Rahman of Malaysia's Department of Civil Aviation said he "could not confirm" the existence of the oil slicks.

"We have not been able to locate or see anything," he told a news conference on Sunday.

Asked about the stolen passports, he said "we are investigating this at the moment" but declined to give further details.

An Austrian reportedly named Christian Kozel had his passport stolen in Thailand in 2012, while Italian Luigi Maraldi lost his to theft last year, also in Thailand.

Despite their names being on the passenger manifest, neither man was on the plane to Beijing, European officials said.

In Washington, a US administration official said authorities were aware of the passports issue.

"We have not determined a nexus to terrorism yet, although it's still very early and that's by no means definitive. We're still tracking the situation," the official said.

Earlier, when asked whether terrorism could have been a factor, Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak said: "We are looking at all possibilities but it is too soon to speculate."

Flight MH370 had relayed no distress signal, indications of rough weather, or other signs of trouble. Both Malaysia's national carrier and the Boeing 777-200 model used on the route are known for their solid safety records.

The flight was carrying 227 passengers and 12 crew. A US company based in Texas said 20 of its employees were among the missing passengers - a dozen from Malaysia and eight from China.

Thirty-eight Malaysians and seven Indonesians were aboard, as well as a range of other nationalities including Australian, Indian, American, Dutch, and French.

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