Derryn Hinch says his candidates’ strong advocacy record and lived experience will be key to the campaign prospects of the party he leads in the November 26 state election.
The former senator will stand for the Legislative Council South-Eastern Metropolitan region with running partner Mohit Dweivedi.
He said Derryn Hinch’s Justice Party had also re-endorsed MPs Tania Maxwell and Stuart Grimley, first elected in 2018, to re-contest the Legislative Council regions of Northern Victoria and Western Victoria, respectively.
Strong running mates John Herron will support Ms Maxwell in Northern Victoria, and Simone O’Brien will support Mr Grimley in Western Victoria.
Mr Herron, a Navy veteran from Riddells Creek, is an experienced lawyer with a Gisborne and Kyneton practice and father of Courtney Herron, who was murdered in 2019 in a vicious attack in Melbourne’s Royal Park by a perpetrator later found not guilty because of mental impairment.
Ms O’Brien, from Horsham, is a tireless advocate for survivors after a shocking attack in 2012 that left her fighting for life and led to a 15-year jail term for her would-be killer.
Ms Maxwell said she had worked hard to improve safety and justice in the past four years by challenging Labor legislation and the adequacy and fairness of government infrastructure and services funding in regional communities, which a Parliamentary Budget Office costing shows is almost 20 per cent short of taxpayer funding invested in metropolitan Melbourne.
“My approach to government policy and doing business in Parliament has been shaped by my lived experience as a victim-survivor of sexual violence, my background in youth work and an earlier career in remote mining communities, and the ‘Enough is enough’ community safety campaign in the North East that I helped to lead in 2016,” she said.
“Derryn Hinch’s Justice Party MPs tend to call it as we see it.
“It’s hard work to tackle the tough issues, the issues so often on the margins, and deliver what’s fair, just and safe for the people and communities we represent.
“We’ve stuck by those principles in every debate and on every bill put to Parliament – whether by the government, opposition, or cross bench.
“We’re making gains to deliver effective support for victims of crime, and equality and fairness for female firefighters.
“We’re pushing vital changes to make life safe for children in protection and deliver dignity and redress for those who, long ago, were abused in state care.
“We’re pressing for better resourcing to improve ambulance emergency response times and for a fair share of health and hospital funding in regional communities.
“And we’re putting a sharper lens on abusive behaviour in the parliamentary workplace and calling it to account.
“I think Derryn Hinch’s Justice Party has also been the centrist voice in the fifty-ninth Parliament. As MPs our voting record is consistent. It’s moderate. It shows we work across party lines. But we’re not afraid to stick our necks out.”
Comments by John Herron
“I am an accidental candidate as my venture into politics was attributed to the murder of my daughter in 2019.
“The killer was released early from prison and was on bail – like so many other stories. I saw the Andrews’ government’s indifference to victims, violent crime and violence against women.
“My daughter would have wanted me to fight for her and other female victims of crime to ensure both her killer and others are not allowed to perpetrate these crimes in the first place, and to level appropriate punishment and treatment, so Victorian society can again be a functioning democracy.”
