Federal election 2016 — News and views from the campaign

ROLLING COVERAGE: Shock jock and aspiring senator Derryn Hinch will use parliamentary privilege to name and shame child sex offenders if he feels kids are in danger.

SHOCK jock and aspiring senator Derryn Hinch will use parliamentary privilege to name and shame child sex offenders if he feels kids are in danger.

Speaking on Sky News this afternoon, the Victorian senate candidate said he wouldn’t abuse the privilege but had no qualms using it if needed. “It will be the court of last resort and I won’t be a cowboy, but if I feel kids are in danger, I will name and shame (and) I will use parliamentary privilege to do so,” he said. “This is for convicted sex offenders, not people who are just charged.” The veteran journalist and commentator, who is running under the Derryn Hinch Justice Party banner, has been a long time campaigner for children’s rights in Australia. He has spent time behind bars on two separate occasions for naming sex offenders, most recently a 50-day stint — including two weeks in solitary confinement — for comments he made about the brutal murder of Melbourne ABC employee Jill Meagher. He said this afternoon if he was successful in his senate race he would also be pushing for other big changes that he believes will make children safer. “I’ve been pushing for a long time for a national register of convicted sex offenders. I also hope, if I get in, to first of all have a national inquiry into the Family Court and child welfare agencies around Australia,” he said. “I think you’ve got kids who are being put into foster care who shouldn’t be (and) kids being taken out of foster care who shouldn’t be.