Due to the live nature of Tonight, we apologise for the lack of captions for some items. Tonight ` fears mount as the Beast of Blenheim is seen for the first time in 16 years as he prepares to leave jail. The roar of the V8's coming back to Auckland may prove a hit with petrolheads. But it'll hit ratepayers in the pocket too. A blanket of fog disrupts more than 100 flights and ensures a frustrating night for thousands of travellers. Kia ora. Good evening. He has been dubbed the Beast of Blenheim, and tonight the face of one of NZ's most notorious sexual criminals has been seen for the first time in 16 years. Stewart Murray Wilson, who is to be released from prison this year, was at a high court hearing in Christchurch after the Corrections Department applied for an extended supervision order. Daniel Faitaua reports. Taking the oath, Stewart Murray Wilson. I do. Yes. The convicted sex offender dubbed the Beast of Blenheim was back before a judge by video link from Rolleston Prison to the High Court in Christchurch. The hearing follows an application from the Corrections Department for a 10`year extended supervision following his imminent release. One Corrections psychologist says, even at 65, Wilson still shows sexual deviancy after masturbating in front of a female guard. He would've been 64 years at that stage. So at 64 he's still displaying sexually inappropriate behaviour. The court also heard more than a decade ago, he typed a story about a forceful sexual encounter between a horse and a girl, which was found in his cell ` a claim he denies. I've read it today, and I'm thoroughly disgusted with it, and I've asked the officer with me to destroy it. Wilson was convicted on 22 offences in 1996 and jailed for 21 years. The charges included the rape of five women, wilfully ill-treating a child, and also bestiality. During that time, he has never sought help. I would say it's highly unlikely that Mr Wilson will engage with a psychologist in the community. Uh, if he did engage, I suspect it wouldn't be in a meaningful manner. The convicted rapist is due for release in September this year after 18 years in prison, and will remain under parole conditions for three years. Because he has adult victims, it does not preclude him from being a high risk to children. Justice Graham Lang has reserved his decision until next week. Daniel Faitaua, ONE News. Thousands of air travellers across the country remain stranded by the heavy fog that's been causing major delays at Auckland Airport. More than 100 domestic and international departures and nearly 120 arrivals were affected. Joanna Hunkin has more. All packed up, but nowhere to go. PA: NZ5201 to Napier departing at 10 past 10 has been cancelled. School holiday plans going awry as dense fog blanketed Auckland and the Waikato. We've obviously had some moisture over the past 24 hours. That saturates the atmosphere, but the one thing we've had through the course of the night as well has been clear skies, light winds, and that's the perfect recipe for the fog. More than 50 flights ` domestic and international ` were affected by the fog. Regional flights out of Auckland have been grounded most of the day, while others were subject to major delays. Passengers were disappointed. Air NZ doesn't seem to be making much of an effort to put me on an alternative flight to Wellington, hence getting me to Palmerston. It seems like a, uh, vacuum of information here. I'm not happy. But most accepted the situation with good humour. The weather's the weather, and that's the way it is. It could be a lot worse, I think. It's a long way home, and it's been a long night, but, um, I guess we'll get there eventually. Air NZ was too busy dealing with the delays to be interviewed. It says it doesn't know how many passengers have been affected, but will be putting on more services to help clear the backlog over the coming days. For now, passengers are still waiting for clear skies, as a solid lump of fog is still stubbornly hanging about South Auckland. The Prime Minister is in Australia, but that's not stopped him from calling on his hosts to allow NZers who live there more access to benefits. John Key's call was prompted by a new law excluding expat Kiwis from compensation if they're injured travelling outside Australia. Australia correspondent Steve Marshall reports. With no government-level meetings lined up, it's a low-key visit for our Prime Minister. He kicked off his 2-day visit with a speech to trans-Tasman business leaders. Asia, for us, is the big market that we think the big opportunities will come. While we share similar economic goals, Australia and NZ are poles apart when it comes to caring for each other's people. Despite paying taxes in Australia, expat NZers are not entitled to new government compensation payments if they are hurt in a terrorist attack while travelling outside Australia. The NZ government has advocated with the Australian government to see if we can get a change in that. There's sympathetic noises coming out of Canberra. It's the latest in a long list as to what's off-limits here for NZ expats. Access to disability services, denied. Access to medical aids such as wheelchairs, denied. Social housing, denied. Higher education loans, forget it. Even discounted travel for NZers studying here ` it's not available. The list goes on. Meanwhile, Australians living in NZ have access to the equivalent of all these services. John Key's sympathetic to the cause, but he's wary that any changes might make Australia look an even more attractive proposition to NZers thinking of moving here. At the end of the day, we think we've got to put up a stronger proposition for them to stay than Australia putting up some reasons why they might not to come. But I simply make the point that if the change can occur, that's great, but in the end, that's in the hands of the Australian government. It's unlikely that Julia Gillard will make any concessions involving expat NZ rights before next year's federal election. Steve Marshall, ONE News, Sydney. Pukekohe residents are welcoming back the V8s with open arms despite its price tag of more than $10m. The proposal was debated behind closed doors at the Auckland Town Hall before councillors voted it through nine to five. Helen Castles has more. If all goes to plan, the V8 supercars will be back roaring around the Pukekohe Track next April after six years absence. Pukekohe hosted the race for five years before it went to Hamilton, and locals say it's time they got it back. It's great to have them back in town. As a motorhead and petrolhead myself, I missed them when they left. Yeah, I think it's pretty cool when they come to town, eh. I'm actually really excited they're going to be here for a while. It's time they came back to Pukekohe. The business community says it's the right decision, with the event predicted to pump at least $7m dollars into the Auckland economy each year. It's an amazing weekend for the economy, but it has a lot of ongoing effects as well uh, through, uh, obviously, tourists. Uh, putting Pukekohe back on the map. But to make money, you have spend money, and this project's going to cost Auckland ratepayers $10.6m over five years. Council funds will be capped at $2.1m each year. So if race organisers have a budget blowout, it's their problem to deal with. But not everyone's in favour. Five councillors voted against, mindful of Hamilton City Council's failed $40m investment. A lot of households are hurting. Rates are going up, and there just seems to be a lack of kind of, uh, fiscal management around, uh, the political arm of this council. And Aucklanders won't be the only ones coughing up. Taxpayers will also be footing some of the bill. The Government will make a one-off payment of just over $2m to help upgrade the Pukekohe Park Raceway. Auckland Council hope to sign off on the plan by the end of the month. Helen Castles, ONE News. Ewen Macdonald's family have spoken publicly for the first time since their son was found not guilty of killing Feilding farmer Scott Guy. Kerry and Marlene Macdonald say they've spoken with their son hundreds of times since his arrest, and they believe Tuesday's verdict was correct. They say they're no longer confused and bewildered, but rather totally at peace with his assertion that he did not kill his brother-in-law. Their statement also says the trial's been brutal for the Guy family and Scott's wife Kylee. And Ewen knows he is responsible for that, as well as the physical crimes he committed. Ewen's parents say he has no words big enough to express his remorse or apologies. It's believed he is in Manawatu Prison, awaiting his sentencing for arson and criminal damage. There's a glimmer of hope for thousands of property owners worried about how they'll pay for earthquake-strengthening work. Ministers are now acknowledging tax incentives or some kind of grant may be needed to help owners of quake-prone buildings. Political editor Corin Dann has the details. In downtown Wellington, hundreds of buildings now bear yellow stickers showing they don't meet earthquake building standards. For affected apartment and office owners like Chrissy Hill, that carries a stigma, along with tens of thousands of dollars in strengthening work. You're feeling on the back foot. You're feeding like you are the baddie, and you have got to do something about it, because, you know, you are responsible for everyone's safety. Local councils, police, quake safety standards and many have given owners 15 years to get up to scratch. But they acknowledge that since the Canterbury quakes, many owners aren't coping. Some of these people are under real stress. Um, not only are their buildings sometimes not up to standard, they're facing enormous increases in their premiums for insurance. But this is not just an issue for quake zones like Wellington and Christchurch. The Historic Places Trust estimates around 4000 heritage buildings around the country are earthquake-prone. The cost of strengthening them between $4b and $8b. So, should the Government step in to help, like it did with leaky homes? The Revenue Minister and United Future Leader Peter Dunne says, in his view, it should. There will have to be some government leadership in this matter, and whether that is in terms of financial assistance or whether it's in terms of some arrangements with local authorities or the property sector, I think, is yet to be determined. The Finance Minister, Bill English, is well aware of the looming earthquake-prone buildings issue, but his office says he won't consider the issue until after the Royal Commission of Inquiry into the Canterbury quakes issues its finding on building standards. Still, for the likes of Chrissy Hill, just knowing that the Government is at least prepared to consider lending a hand is a big step forward. A boy (9) is still in a serious but stable condition after a bus crash near Mossburn in Southland. The bus was carrying tourists on a trip to Milford Sound when it came off the road and hit a power pole. It's believed that black ice caused the accident. The bus struck some treacherous road conditions ` very icy ` has lost control and spun around, overturned. More sub-zero temperatures are forecast, and police are warning motorists to take extra care on the roads. Trade union leaders are calling for more attention to worker safety in the security industry. This comes as an Auckland security company faces legal action after the killing of a guard on his first night on the job. Charlotte Whale explains. Union leaders say Charanpreet Dhaliwal should never have been working the night he was murdered. We think there is a problem with the attitude to health and safety amongst employers in this country that's got to be changed. Today CNE Security Ltd - the company that hired Mr Dhaliwal - denied charges that it failed to ensure his safety. It'd been contracted by Fulton Hogan to provide security for the Henderson site where Mr Dhaliwal died. There are calls for the construction giant to also face charges. Charanpreet that night was looking after their property, and they were benefiting from his labour. Helen Kelly says laws need to be put in place to ensure big companies are accountable for the actions of the businesses they hire. They clearly, with their own staff, have systems in place, and they just shouldn't be able to contract out health and safety responsibility. Others say the situation is made worse by budget operators undercutting each other. (SPEAKS IN OWN LANGUAGE) Charanpreet Dhaliwal's mother travelled from India to question CNE Security over her son's death. INTERPRETS: No one actually made contact on behalf of the company and never paid any condolence. CNE Security has issued a statement saying it's a caring employer, committed to providing a safe workplace for its employees. And when Fulton Hogan was questioned over their possible responsibility for Mr Dhaliwal's death, it declined to comment. The case goes to a defended hearing in October. Charlotte Whale, ONE News. ONE News has discovered a surprising sequence of events in the lead up to the kiwifruit PSA outbreak here. A scientist says he can explain how the vine-killing disease got into the country. Heather du Plessis-Allan has details. It's possible PSA's ravage of half the country's kiwifruit vines started with a failure at the border. For it to get through is surprising. An official report released yesterday can't say how exactly PSA got here, but after some digging, ONE News has found a startling sequence of events. In mid-2009 a 4.5kg consignment of kiwifruit plants called 'anthers' arrived against import rules from China. In mid-2010, a 1kg package of pollen also arrived from China ` four months before PSA was detected. The shipments went to a pollen-importing company in Te Puke. Here's the pollen company on a map. Here's where the company's owners live. Here, across the road, PSA was first spotted in October 2010. But it's since emerged PSA was actually found at the owners' property two weeks earlier. You could say, 'Well, that's just a coincidence,' but it helps persuade the case that in actual fact it was that Chinese anther import that was the mistake. The anthers can't be tested for PSA because the pollen company discarded them ` simply threw them away in the rubbish. The anthers can't be tested for PSA because the pollen company discarded them ` simply threw them away in the rubbish. But the pollen from the second package has all been retrieved and tested positive for PSA. So we asked the ministry if it can rule out that import as the outbreak's cause. We don't know how, um, PSA disease got into NZ. And after months of investigation, has the ministry traced where in China the imports originated? I can't tell you that information as I sit here, but I can check and get back to you. A surprising lack of information, given it's more than 18 months since PSA arrived in NZ. Heather du Plessis-Allan, ONE News. A police investigation into donations to John Banks' Auckland mayoral campaign is complete, but any action is still weeks away. The Act MP came under scrutiny after it was alleged he knew a $50,000 donation to his 2010 campaign fund came from Kim Dotcom. Police were also looking at a $15,000 anonymous donation believed to have come from Sky City casinos. John Banks has maintained he didn't break local electoral laws and has nothing to hide. Just ahead ` commuter frustration for thousands of Aucklanders. NZ joins the international chorus condemning South Korea's desire to resume whaling. And why this lifeguard saved a drowning man but then got fired for it. 1 Auckland bus services hit the brakes today as drivers rejected a proposed pay agreement. 900 drivers attended a union meeting that kept all NZ-Bus vehicles off the road for much of the day, causing mass disruption to commuters. Annoying. Yeah, annoying. You can't go anywhere. You know, they need to have time off to negotiate, but it's maybe better earlier in the morning, I would have thought. Negotiations will continue at the end of next week, but no disruption to services is expected. NZ's joined other nations in condemning South Korea's intention to resume hunting minke whales in its waters. Like Japan, South Korea says it's only for scientific research. Rebecca Edwards reports. It's a practice long despised by many Kiwis, and our government, like many times before, is condemning South Korea's plan to resume hunting whales. In those waters, there's very depleted stocks already. I mean, I think most people find the concept of killing whales abhorrent. South Korea stopped hunting whales soon after an International Whaling Commission moratorium banned it in 1986. But now it's following Japan's lead and plans to use a loophole to resume hunting whales for scientific research. In an address to the International Whaling Commission in Panama, a South Korean delegate told participants the research is... But Greenpeace says scientific whaling is simply commercial whaling in disguise. There's no need to kill whales in order to find out more about the individuals, their biology or the populations. This can be done without harming them. ONE News wanted to interview the South Korean ambassador to NZ on this issue, but we were told it wasn't appropriate for them to comment. Our government says it hopes international reaction will be taken into account. They're looking at the issue and going through a scoping study, so we would hope that after that analysis, they would see sense and not take a step down that direction. Our ambassador in Seoul is now taking up NZ's concerns directly with the south Korean government. Rebecca Edwards, ONE News. They're trained to save lives, and that's exactly what American lifeguard Tommy Lopez did, rescuing a swimmer from drowning. But in a case of apparently ludicrous liability rules, instead of being hailed as a hero, his employers fired him. ABC's Matt Guttman has the story. When duty called, Tommy Lopez sprinted. I heard this guy calling to me, 'There's someone drowning. There's someone drowning.' I'm looking, like, I don't see anyone, cos they're way down over there. They're way down over there. So I just started running. Darting past hordes of beachgoers on Monday to save a drowning man. I was worried about the guy himself and not anything else, cos he was blue when I got him. Instead of being rewarded, he was fired. You see, the 21-year-old knowingly violated a rule that prevents guards from this privately-run lifeguard company from leaving their station to help a swimmer in distress. I just went over and did what I had to do. Because someone's life was at stake. I had to. Tommy's guard station is about 100 yards that way down the beach. Now, beyond this sign, he's not allowed to go. But the person who was drowning was over there. A spokesperson for lifeguard contractor Jeff Ellis Management said,... Suddenly, the rule that got Tommy fired launched a mutiny. So, let me get this straight. All of you, basically, resigned or were fired because of Tommy? ALL AGREE Tommy's fellow-lifeguards left en masse - seven of them ` in disgust. What we're basically supposed to do is just watch them die, technically. Just then, we came across Brian Ritchie who walked off this guard tower to turn in his whistle and the shirt off his back. Brian. Did you just quit? I did just quit. How'd it go? (SIGHS) It was rough. I'm glad that I can separate myself from this. I knew if the incident ever came up, I would go. They'd made a pact ` choosing to save lives instead of their jobs. A skyscraper touted to become one of London's most distinctive sites has been finished, and it's rise has been caught on time-lapse camera. The Shard, named for its resemblance to a shard of glass, is 310m high, the tallest building in Western Europe. It took 12 years to build and has 95 storeys of apartments, offices, restaurants and a five-star hotel. Just ahead ` how the big fight night's shaking down ` all the action from the ring. And we hit the replay button on the frost and fog for Friday. Hi, everyone. The big low pressure area over the North Island should start to move away to the east tomorrow with the easterly flow tilting more south-east. This front hangs back near the east coast of the North Island, keeping the rain or showers going there. And this trough near Northland will deliver some morning rain up there. Ridge spreads over the South Island. We've got some settled weather coming in with this high. For weather, see onenews.co.nz And that is your weather. I'll see you tomorrow. Shane Cameron has won the godfather of all fights at Auckland's Sky City. Both fighters landed some good punches in the first three rounds, but then in round four, Shane Cameron unleashed this. Earlier, cricketer Jesse Ryder floored radio host Mark Watson in less than 30 seconds. And Jaime Ridge, a TAB favourite, won the girl's fight ` one of the most anticipated. Her size proved too much for opponent, reality TV star Rosanna Arkle. That's it from us here on Tonight. Thanks for watching. Goodnight. Captions by John Ling and Glenna Casalme. Captions were made possible with funding from NZ On Air. Copyright TVNZ Access Services 2012