Derryn Hinch's Justice Party, also known as the Justice Party, is a political party in Australia, registered for federal elections since 14 April 2016. The party is named after its founder,

Derryn Hinch Derryn Nigel Hinch (born 9 February 1944) is a New Zealand-born media personality, politician, actor, journalist and published author. He is best known for his career in Australia, on Melbourne radio and television. He served as a Senator for V ...

, an Australian media personality. The party won one seat (a three-year term) in the

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

at the 2016 federal election, after achieving 6.05% of the first-preference votes in

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

. It also was registered by the

Victorian Electoral Commission Victorian or Victorians may refer to: 19th century * Victorian era, British history during Queen Victoria's 19th-century reign ** Victorian architecture ** Victorian house ** Victorian decorative arts ** Victorian fashion ** Victorian literatu ...

in May 2018 and ran candidates in the

2018 Victorian state election Eighteen or 18 may refer to: * 18 (number), the natural number following 17 and preceding 19 * one of the years 18 BC, AD 18, 1918, 2018 Film, television and entertainment * ''18'' (film), a 1993 Taiwanese experimental film based on the short ...

Background

Hinch announced his political ambitions in October 2015, and at that stage remained host of his weekly program '' Hinch Live'', in a decision supported by Sky News Live. Hinch stepped down from the program on 24 April 2016, telling viewers the program was entering either "semi or permanent recess" depending on the success of his party. The Justice Party's election platform is anti-

paedophile Pedophilia ( alternatively spelt paedophilia) is a psychiatric disorder in which an adult or older adolescent experiences a primary or exclusive sexual attraction to prepubescent children. Although girls typically begin the process of puberty a ...

, tough on crime and in favour of parole and bail "reform".

Policy platform

Focusing on reforms to the justice system, Derryn Hinch's Justice Party believes in a hard-line law-and-order approach, "putting victims above criminals". The party campaigns on prioritising jail sentences over

rehabilitation Rehabilitation or Rehab may refer to: Health * Rehabilitation (neuropsychology), therapy to regain or improve neurocognitive function that has been lost or diminished * Rehabilitation (wildlife), treatment of injured wildlife so they can be retur ...

and

bail Bail is a set of pre-trial restrictions that are imposed on a suspect to ensure that they will not hamper the judicial process. Bail is the conditional release of a defendant with the promise to appear in court when required. In some countries ...

, as well as tougher restrictions on parole. Anti-paedophilia forms another large part of the party's ideology, owing to Hinch's background in naming alleged sexual offenders. Derryn Hinch's Justice Party's advocates for longer sentences for violent crimes and further tightening of bail and

parole Parole (also known as provisional release or supervised release) is a form of early release of a prison inmate where the prisoner agrees to abide by certain behavioral conditions, including checking-in with their designated parole officers, or ...

laws. The party also supports ending the

live export Live export is the commercial transport of livestock across national borders. The trade involves a number of countries with the Australian live export industry being one of the largest exporters in the global trade. According to the Australi ...

trade and establishing a national public register of convicted sex offenders. According to The Age, between November 2018 and November 2021, the Derryn Hinch's Justice Party's Legislative Council members voted with the Andrews Government's position 53.9% of the time.

Electoral history

Federal

The Justice Party fielded candidates for the

in every state of Australia, and also six lower house seats, in the 2016 federal election.

was the party's lead candidate to represent

in the Senate. Hinch was successful at securing the 10th seat of the 12 representing Victoria. No other Justice Party candidates were elected. Aged 72, Hinch is the oldest federal parliamentarian to be elected for the first time.

Victoria

The Justice Party fielded 6 lower house candidates with none winning more than 4.5% of their respective district's vote. The party fielded 12 candidates for the

Victorian Legislative Council The Victorian Legislative Council (VLC) is the upper house of the bicameral Parliament of Victoria, Australia, the lower house being the Legislative Assembly. Both houses sit at Parliament House in Spring Street, Melbourne. The Legislative Co ...

with three being elected: Stuart Grimley,

Tania Maxwell Tania Maree Maxwell is a former Australian politician. She was a Derryn Hinch's Justice Party member of the Victorian Legislative Council between 2018 and 2022, representing Northern Victoria Region. She was not re-elected at the 2022 state el ...

and

Catherine Cumming Catherine Rebecca Cumming is a former Australian politician. She was a member of the Victorian Legislative Council from November 2018 to November 2022, representing the Western Metropolitan Region. She stood at the 2018 Victorian state election ...

. However, on 18 December

Western Metropolitan Region Western Metropolitan Region is one of the eight electoral regions of Victoria, Australia, which elects five members to the Victorian Legislative Council (also referred to as the upper house) by proportional representation. The region was created ...

member-elect Catherine Cumming was sacked from the party, and was sworn in as an

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independ ...

Political representatives

Past members of state parliament

;Victoria * Stuart Grimley –

, 2018–2022 *

–

, 2018–2022

Past members of federal parliament

;Australia *

–

Australian Senate The Senate is the upper house of the Bicameralism, bicameral Parliament of Australia, the lower house being the House of Representatives (Australia), House of Representatives. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Chapter ...

, 2016–2019

External links

Derryn Hinch's voting record in parliament from TheyVoteForYou.org.au

References

{{Political parties in Victoria (Australia) 2015 establishments in Australia Anti-pedophile activism Political parties established in 2015 Political parties in Australia Right-wing politics in Australia