Holiday Breakfast

It may be a rally of arguments today in court for Novak Djokovic as he fights to stay in the Australian tennis open. 
The world tennis star is appealing a deportation order, after failing to produce evidence of his Covid vaccination.  
Djokovic's lawyers will rely on his prior Covid infection to argue his medical exemption and get his visa cancellation overturned. 
Australian Correspondent Murray Olds told Tim Dower he expects the Government to completely discredit Djokovic's claims of assurances prior to him arriving in Australia. 
“The government will claim this morning that Djokovic received no assurance from the federal government that his so-called exemption to enter the country without being vaccinated, would be accepted.” 
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Kiwi motocross rider Courtney Duncan has had an incredibly successful last few years.  
This year, she won her third consecutive Women's Motocross World Championship.  
It's been a tough time otherwise though, in terms of actually trying to get back home to New Zealand via MIQ, but she's recently made it back.  
Courtney Duncan joined Tim Dower. 
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A Christchurch woman is meeting up with 501 deportees as part of a class action lawsuit against the Australian Government.  
Over the next month, Filipa Payne is talking to 75 deportees around the country, as part of a hikoi to get grassroots support for her campaign.  
Payne told Tim Dower she's encouraging all New Zealanders to throw their support behind the lawsuit. 
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There should have been more clarity around Novak Djokovic not being able to enter Australia without a Covid-19 vaccination.  
Djokovic is in a Melbourne quarantine facility awaiting a Federal Court hearing on his deportation on Monday.  
The tennis star was granted a medical exemption by the Victoria State Government, but when he landed - officials found a medical exemption wasn't permitted.  
Sydney Morning Herald sports writer Peter Fitzsimons told Tim Dower Djokovic is the main culprit -- but the government should've made the vaccination requirement clear. 
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There's concern the Government is making it harder for people to buy a home. 
Data released by Kāinga Ora shows it spent nearly $2 billion on buying existing homes for state housing over the past five years.  
The housing agency bought more than 1600 homes in that time - at least 700 of those in Auckland.  
National's housing spokesperson Nicola Willis told Tim Dower it's not good for first home buyers. 
“If you are someone who wants to buy a house in the lower part of the market - and you keep missing out at auction and you find the Government has used some of its cash to out compete you, how does that feel? It’s pretty dreadful.” 
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New Zealand scientists have helped discover a new gene that could be a game changer for farmers. 
The P-A-R gene allows some plant species to clone themselves and hold on to favourable traits that might otherwise get lost in the natural reproduction process. 
Dr Ross Bicknell is one of the scientists who worked on this research, he joined Tim Dower. 
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Concerns are being raised over a lack of money to improve roads in New Zealand. 
Modelling by Waka Kotahi released to the Herald reveals potential problems with the transport agency's funding.  
If too many people replace cars with bikes and public transport, the shift could cause a $600 million gap in the agency's transport budget by the end of the decade. 
Its due to the budget being funded by fuel taxes and road user charges, which is used to improve and maintain roads.  
Transporting New Zealand Chief Executive Nick Leggett told Tim Dower Waka Kotahi already has money issues. 
“The cost of maintaining a road has risen by over 30 percent in the last five years and we haven’t seen that level of increase reflected in government funding.” 
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Earlier this week we were blown away by those amazing images of the North Island, shot from the International Space Station. 
A few days later we've been wondering if a giant lump of Russian space junk was going to smash into the South Island. 
It hasn't, but it is going to come down somewhere - and it illustrates the extreme nature of space exploration. 
Astronomer and space scientist Dr Duncan Steel joined Tim Dower. 
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Novak Djokovic is being held at Melbourne Airport and is not being allowed to enter Australia. 
This follows major controversy over the Australian Open defending champ being granted an exemption to play at this year's tournament. 
Djokovic has always refused to give his vaccination status. 
Political journalist with The Age in Melbourne Paul Sakkal told Tim Dower border officials have their doubts about the exemption. 
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The threat of Covid is far from over - and neither is the national vaccination roll-out. 
Jacinda Ardern has made a plea to New Zealanders who were vaccinated at least four months ago to start receiving their booster shots. 
She's encouraging people in Auckland to take advantage of walk-in centres, like the Auckland Airport Park and Ride facility on Verissimo Drive in Māngere. 
Otago University clinical microbiologist and virologist Dr Anja Werno told Tim Dower it's also important parents get their children vaccinated when paediatric vaccinations begin later this month. 
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