DERRYN Hinch says his party’s candidates for the Northern Victoria electorate had lived experiences and a strong advocacy record.
A former Melbourne radio shock-jock, Mr Hinch leads the Justice Party, launched federally in 2016 as part of his crusade to protect victims and hold perpetrators and courts to account.
He said Tania Maxwell had been endorsed to recontest her seat of Northern Victoria in the state upper house, the Legislative Council.
Mr Hinch will stand for the same chamber in South-Eastern Metropolitan, while Stuart Grimley will recontest his seat in Western Victoria.
John Herron, a Navy veteran from Riddells Creek, will be Ms Maxwell’s running mate on the party ticket in Northern Victoria.
Mr Herron is a lawyer with a Gisborne and Kyneton practice and the father of Courtney Herron, who was killed in 2019 in a vicious attack in Melbourne’s Royal Park by a perpetrator later found not guilty of murder because of mental impairment.
Ms Maxwell said she had worked hard to improve safety and justice for Victorians in the past four years by challenging Labor legislation and the adequacy and fairness of government infrastructure and services funding in regional communities.
She said her approach had been shaped by lived experience as a victim-survivor of sexual violence, her background in youth work and an earlier career in remote mining communities.
“We’ve pushed 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,” Ms Maxwell said.
“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.
“I think Derryn Hinch’s Justice Party has also been the centrist voice in the 59th 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.”
Mr Herron described himself as an “accidental candidate” as his venture into politics was attributed to his daughter’s death.
“The killer was released early from prison and was on bail – like so many other stories,” he said.
“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.”
Mr Herron said a priority focus would be addressing the lack of services offered to people suffering from domestic violence and other violent crime.
