The Front Page podcast: Ardern, Clark on International Women's Day, horror Tekapo crash claims three lives

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern. Photo / File

Each weekday The Front Page keeps you up to date with the biggest news in New Zealand. Today, we celebrate International Women's Day, a horror crash near Tekapo claims three lives, a photographer who died suddenly this week was nine months pregnant, and the Kiwi boy who helped bring Metallica to New Zealand. Hosted by Juliette Sivertsen.

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The Prime Minister says she can only celebrate today to a certain extent, because there's still work to be done.

She's spoken at the International Women's Day breakfast held at Parliament this morning.

Jacinda Ardern says the work will be done when gender doesn't feature in the minds of girls and young women.

She says New Zealand's a trailblazer in giving women the vote, but we need to keep progressing.

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Also speaking at the International Women's Day breakfast was leading employment lawyer Steph Dyhrberg.

She's spoken about the experience of the legal profession waking up to the #MeToo movement.

She says there's societal pressure to keep sexual assault and harassment a secret.

Dyhrberg hopes that in future, the idea of being a little bit sexist is as unacceptable as being a little bit racist.

And in other parts of the world, it's even harder for women to speak up.

Helen Clark says we shouldn't lose sight of the plight of women in the Third World, in the fight for equal rights at home.

The former Prime Minister has just completed her third visit to Afghanistan, this one as part of a campaign for World Vision.

She says we should consider how we can help at home and abroad this International Women's Day.

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Another New Zealand woman being recognised today for her efforts is Dame Sian Elias.

New Zealand's first female Chief Justice is retiring after two decades in the role.

In 1988, she and Dame Lowell Goddard were the first women to be appointed Queen's Counsel in New Zealand.

At her valedictory sitting in the Supreme Court, Dame Sian recalled starting Law School with five other women in 1966.

She says some of her lecturers thought civilisation had come to an end because of women studying law.

Dame Sian is our third longest serving Chief Justice.

Law Society President Kathryn Beck also spoke at the valedictory sitting.

She says perhaps Dame Sian's most outstanding contribution to New Zealand law is her advocacy for Maori.

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A community is in mourning after a horror crash that killed three in the Mackenzie District.

Three people have been killed and five injured in a head-on collision on Tekapo's Braemar Rd shortly before 11am.

It's understood the vehicles involved were a truck and a people-mover.

One of the first people at the scene of the triple fatal crash says he arrived to a "mangled mess" on the unsealed scenic road that is popular with tourists.

Braemar Station Shearers Lodge owner Hamish Mackenzie says it was a horrendous sight, and emergency crews had to use the jaws of life to cut open the people carrier.

Mackenzie District mayor Graham Smith says he was devastated to hear the news.

He says the region doesn't see many tragedies on this scale.

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An Auckland photographer who died suddenly in her home this week, was nine months pregnant.

Janay Johnstone was due to have her second child this month, when she died.

President of the NZ Institute of Professional Photography Ollie Dale says as far as she knows, Johnstone had no health issues, it was completely unexpected and she was a vibrant and bubbly person.

The 31-year-old ran her own business Tee Jay Photography, which specialised in taking photos of mums and dads with their newborn babies.

Johnstone also volunteered for Heartfelt, a group of professional photographers who go into hospitals to take photos of families with babies who are seriously ill or died during birth so they have a keepsake of their little ones.

Dale has set up a Givealittle page in Johnstone's memory at the request of other photographers, to give them the chance to pay their respects and donate to her surviving husband and young son.

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More suppression orders over the case of the man accused of murdering British backpacker Grace Millane.

The now 27-year-old Auckland man appeared in the High Court at Auckland last month in a bid to convince Justice Simon Moore that revealing his identity would prejudice his fair trial rights.

Today the judge released his decision to the media.

But the judgment and the reasons given by Justice Moore have been suppressed.

The name suppression hearing had been held behind closed doors, preventing members of the public from attending.

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A truck advertising high interest cash loans in Hawkes Bay is being accused of preying on vulnerable people by giving out 139 per cent loans.

For more than a week, a bright green Superloans truck has been advertising "free loans" in Flaxmere.

The loans are free for a time frame the borrower and company agree on, and any remaining debt after that time frame is subject to high interest rates.

A contract from Superloans seen by Hawke's Bay Today had an interest rate of 139 per cent.

Last year the Commerce Commission launched an investigation into Superloans after it received 29 complaints against the company.

The investigation is ongoing but no charges have been laid.

Hastings Councillor Henare O'Keefe says the truck is preying on the vulnerable.

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Demand for Bluff oysters is leading to a shortage of the delicacy.

Seafood NZ reports licence holders have agreed to limit the catch to 7.5 million oysters - which is half of the regulated total allowable catch of 15 million.

The industry advocate says an exclusive member-only club was this week offering one Bluff oyster for $20.

The solo oyster came with a glass of bubbly - but the price reflects the excitement the famous wild oysters, affectionately known as "Bluffies", from Foveaux Strait, generate each year.

The season opened on March 1st.

Last year the oysters were also fished conservatively with about 10 million landed on the same regulated catch allowance.

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A new report's revealed half of Bay of Plenty people with severe bowel cancer are not getting urgent referrals.

The study's published in today's New Zealand Medical Journal and looked at referrals from GPs and diagnosis times for bowel cancer patients in the Bay of Plenty District Health Board area for two and a half years.

Bowel cancer is the second highest cause of cancer death in New Zealand.

Each year about 3000 people are diagnosed with it and more than 1200 will die.

Of the 181 people in the study who were confirmed to have cancer, only 36 of the 65 people who should have been fast-tracked, were referred by their GPs as urgent.

The findings have lead the authors to call for a standardised referral form which would ensure doctors provided all the necessary information.

Bowel Cancer New Zealand spokesperson Mary Bradley says there's a desperate need for more specialists.

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Heavy metal legends Metallica have announced they will be bringing their WorldWired tour to New Zealand.

They'll play at Mt. Smart Stadium in Auckland on October 31 with support from Slipknot.

Metal fans have been long hoping that the band would make their way to New Zealand as part of the massive worldwide tour that kicked off in Puerto Rico in 2016.

And a Kiwi Metallica super-fan seems to have been behind it all too.

A petition calling for the band to come, started by teenager William Bush, got almost 7000 signatures.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, acknowledged Bush's efforts and awarded him with VIP tickets to the concert.

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That's the Front Page for today, Friday 8 March, making sure you're across the biggest news of the day. For more on these stories, check out The New Zealand Herald, or tune in to Newstalk ZB.

You can subscribe to this podcast on Apple podcasts here, iHeartRadio here, and Stitcher here.

If you like to stay up to date on social media, you can find host Juliette Sivertsen on Twitter.