Vale Derryn Hinch, The Human Headline
Veteran Australian broadcaster, media personality, and former senator Derryn Hinch has died at the age of 82.
His death was confirmed on his former radio station 3AW this morning, with ABC reporting he passed away in his sleep.
Derryn Hinch was known for his unabashed style of journalism that often made him a controversial figure, earning the nickname of ‘the Human Headline’.
Derryn was born in New Zealand in 1944 and began his journalism career at The Taranaki Herald in 1960 when he was 15. In 1963, he moved to Australia and joined The Sun on the police round.
His career progressed quickly over the next few years, becoming a foreign correspondent for Fairfax in 1966 and New York bureau chief in 1972. In 1969, he provided live commentary from the US of the Apollo 11 moon landing for 2GB in Sydney.
Never one to back down from a challenge, Derryn built a fierce journalistic reputation across print, radio, and television.
He was a regular presenter on talkback radio and hosted his own current affairs news programme ‘Hinch’ on the Seven Network from 1988-1991, and on Network Ten from 1992-94.
His catchphrases ‘That’s life’ and ‘shame, shame, shame’ became part of the national vernacular and were parodied on comedy shows like ‘Fast Forward’.
Brash, unafraid, and unapologetic, Derryn Hinch seemed to thrive at the crossroads of fame and infamy. Throughout his six-decade career, he was convicted three times for flouting contempt of court laws in relation to his unabated crusade against sex offenders.
He was fined and jailed for 12 days in 1987 for identifying paedophile Catholic priest Michael Glannon while a criminal trial was pending. He was sentenced to five months of home detention in 2011 for breaching suppression orders over two other offenders.
In 2013, he refused to pay a $100,000 fine for airing details about the criminal history of Adrian Ernest Bailey, the killer of ABC employee Jill Meagher, opting to spend 50 days in prison.
Derryn turned to politics in 2015, establishing his eponymous Justice Party and was elected to the Australian Senate as a senator for Victoria in 2016. At 73, he was the oldest new member to ever be elected to the Australian Parliament.
He made a bold impression on Australian politics at the time, focussing heavily on criminal justice reform that emphasised stricter penalties for violent and sexual offenders, and voicing support for controversial issues such as voluntary euthanasia and capital punishment.
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His political service saw the introduction of a new law restricting the overseas travel of convicted paedophiles and continued advocacy for the establishment of an Australian public sex offender registry.
The party was dissolved in 2022 when none of the candidates were successful in the Victorian state election.
Often at odds with the political and journalistic status quo, Derryn Hinch carved a unique place for himself in Australian media culture. In so many ways he embodied the highly prized virtues of speaking truth to power and challenging authority in the pursuit of justice, despite the personal cost.
An outspoken, unashamed, and groundbreaking journalist, Derryn Hinch leaves behind an undeniably powerful legacy for subsequent generations to follow.
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