An update to this topic: The control module mounted on the steering column failed - I gather this is a glitch that is being dealt with. I pulled the fuse to the wipers (permanently working) and drove to Cairns very carefully (330 km) with warnings that brakes and steering may not be performing properly. Our Cairns dealer Westco took a new unit out of vehicle they had just received and got us back on the road to Townsville in not much more than and hour - our thanks to the guys there - Nathan and Fabrice.
The new control module had no impact on the cruise control drop-out which average out at somewhere between every 10-15km. This issue has been escalated up the chain and hopefully will eventually be corrected. One piece of information that must mean something, but I don't know what. Driving north about 150 km from Cairns, you pass through a very small place called Mary Farms. The approach to the bridge is a long sweeping curve which you can happily take at 100 kph. The last three times I have driven this road, cruise control had a double drop-out in exactly the same place on this curve. Can't be a coincidence, but what does it mean?
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