Morning Report for Monday 27 November 2017

6:00 AM.Roxburgh hit hard in Central Otago floods, Roxburgh locals describe flash flood damage, Tonga fans celebrate despite RLWC loss, RLWC2017 referee stands by controversial Tonga call, Sir William… Read more Audio

6:09 AM.The government's freshly announced stocktake of housing is being dismissed as nothing more than smoke and mirrors. The National Party says the government already has this information at its… Read more Audio

6:18 AM.There've been calls for calm in Timor Leste as politicians jostle for power just four months after elections. All signs point to the fall of the minority government in coming days, raising concerns… Read more Audio

6:34 AM.An application for a fresh appeal in Scott Watson's murder conviction claims scientific evidence that helped seal his fate would struggle to stand up in court today. Watson's supporters say the… Read more Audio

7:06 AM.An update from the team at RNZ Sport. Audio

7:10 AM.Heavy rain and flooding in Central Otago yesterday forced the evacuation of some houses and left the township of Roxburgh without drinking water. It's believed the town's reservoir drained after a… Read more Audio

7:15 AM.Tonga's Rugby League World Cup campaign may have ended on a disappointing note but that didn't stop their fans from uniting to celebrate their nation's emergence as a leading international power in… Read more Audio

7:17 AM.Several evacuees in the Central Otago town of Roxburgh have returned home but flash flooding appears to have knocked out the town's water supply. Locals Daniel Prew and Raymond Gunn describe the… Read more Audio

7:25 AM.Rugby League World Cup referees' boss Tony Archer stands by Matt Cecchin's game-changing decision in Saturday's Tonga versus England clash. But Rugby League World Cup general manager of officiating… Read more Audio

7:27 AM.Waikato businessman Sir William Gallagher has called the Treaty of Waitangi a fake and accused Maori of fencing off beaches. Speaking to a gathering of businesspeople in Hamilton on Friday, the… Read more Audio

7:32 AM.A supporter of convicted double murderer Scott Watson has obtained forensic advice suggesting scientific evidence that was crucial in his conviction has proved weak by modern standards. Watson has… Read more Audio

7:32 AM.Auckland Council will vote next week on whether to ban people from the Waitakere Ranges. Total closure is one of the options mooted to fight kauri dieback, the rapidly spreading disease that's… Read more Audio

7:38 AM.A Manus Island refugee says there is not enough space in new facilities for the men forcibly removed last week from the decomissioned detention centre. Large protests against the refugees' treatment… Read more Audio

7:47 AM.School principals say mandatory reporting of hundreds of cases of teachers physically restraining children will show the scale of the behaviour problems they're dealing with. Principals who have… Read more Audio

7:50 AM.President Donald Trump has come out in support again of Alabama Senator candidate Roy Moore. Multiple women have accussed Roy Moore of sexual misconduct dating back 40 years in some cases. Mr Trump… Read more Audio

8:06 AM.An update from the team at RNZ Sport. Audio

8:10 AM.The Central Otago town of Roxburgh is without drinking water after heavy rain and flooding yesterday. Stephen Jeffery is a Roxburgh resident and represents the region on the Central Otago District… Read more Audio

8:13 AM.The Central Otago town of Roxburgh is without drinking water after heavy rain and flooding on Sunday. Roxburgh resident Daniel Prew joins us to describe the damage. Audio

8:24 AM.Civil Defence tested an emergency mobile phone alert service on Sunday evening. The service is meant to warn people in selected areas of pending risks such as tsunamis. It says the test was a success… Read more Audio

8:30 AM.A brief update of movements in the financial sector. Audio

8:30 AM.A new study points to how Australian science institutions routinely lock women out of research funding. The data shows men have overwhelmingly been the recipients of research grants in engineering… Read more Audio

8:40 AM.A study commissioned by KiwiRail and the Transport Agency has found rail provides the country with up to $1.5 billion dollars in hidden benefits. The report cites lower traffic congestion, reduction… Read more Audio

8:43 AM.Hawke's Bay authorities insist restoring part of the defunct Napier-Gisborne railway line is realistic, even though the scheme is at least a year overdue and no work has been done on it so far. A plan… Read more Audio

8:46 AM.A Sri Lankan family facing deportation are being backed by a local MP and Queenstown locals as they lobby the Government in a last-minute bid to stay. The family moved to New Zealand eight years ago… Read more Audio

8:56 AM.Egypt has mounted a wave of air strikes against fighters they believe carried out the bombing of a mosque in northern Sinai. More than 300 worshippers were killed on Friday in the attack by militants… Read more Audio