Broadcaster-turned-politician Derryn Hinch has died at the age of 82.
The outspoken and at times controversial journalist was dubbed “The Human Headline” and was known for his distinctive broadcasting style and his decades-long campaign to expose sex offenders, which earned him several stints in jail.
He served in the federal parliament as a senator for Victoria from 2016 until 2019. At the time of his election, at the age of 72, he was the oldest person to be elected to the parliament for the first time.
His passing was announced by his former radio station 3AW, which reported that he had died in his sleep.
Born in New Zealand, he began his media career at the Taranaki Herald when he was 15. He moved to Australia in 1963 and joined The Sun newspaper in Sydney. By 1966, he had become a foreign correspondent for the Fairfax media organisation and was based in New York for more than a decade. He returned to Sydney in 1976 to take up the editor position at The Sun.
In the 1980s, Hinch moved into television and radio. He hosted his own current affairs programme, Hinch, on the Seven Network, and the show later moved to Network 10. In 1994, he joined Nine, where he hosted Midday for a year. From the late 1970s through to 2012, he presented a series of radio programs in Adelaide and Sydney, most notably on 3AW.
Hinch was known for breaching contempt-of-court laws in cases involving sex offenders, resulting in three convictions. In 1987, he was fined and jailed for 12 days for identifying Catholic priest Michael Glannon while a criminal trial was still pending. In 2011, he served five months in home detention for breaching suppression orders relating to two other offenders. He was later jailed for 50 days after revealing the criminal history of Adrian Bailey before Bailey’s trial for the murder of Jill Meagher had commenced.
Alongside his work in news and current affairs, Hinch also appeared on light entertainment programmes including Beauty and the Beast, Millionaire Hot Seat, and Dancing with the Stars. He also appeared alongside his then wife Jackie Weaver in John Farnham’s You’re the Voice video.
Derryn Hinch was married four times, with each marriage ending in divorce. His longest marriage was to Weaver, whom he married in 1983. The couple divorced in 1998.
In 2015, he founded Derryn Hinch’s Justice Party and was elected to the Australian Senate. His party primarily advocated for tougher sentences for violent and sexual offenders, while also supporting equal rights regardless of race, religion or sexual orientation. He supported marriage equality during his time in parliament. Senator Hinch also put forward a motion calling for schools that turn away gay students or teachers to be stripped of their commonwealth funding.
