Derryn Hinch names and shames convicted child sex offenders in maiden speech.

By political reporter Jane Norman

Victorian Senator Derryn Hinch has stayed true to word and used his first speech in Parliament to name and shame a number of convicted child sex offenders.

Senator Hinch told the chamber he would not be a “cowboy”, but he would use parliamentary privilege to name names if he believed it was necessary.

“It will be the court of last resort, I will not be a cowboy,” he said.

“But if it’s necessary to protect a child’s wellbeing, then you’re damn right I’ll name the human vermin.”

During the speech, Senator Hinch restricted himself to naming convicted sex offenders currently serving jail time, including Daniel Morcombe’s killer Brett Peter Cowan and Adrian Bailey, who murdered Melbourne woman Jill Meagher.

He also named El Salvadorian man Juan Carlos Cruz, “whose semen was found on the nappy of a two-year-old girl whose mother was babysitting her at the time”.

“For this disgusting crime, almost incomprehensible to normal people, he was sentenced in Canberra to only three years and three months imprisonment,” he said.

Senator Hinch said he would use his time in Parliament to push for a public register of convicted sex offenders, arguing everyone had the right to know who was living next door to them.

In a lengthy and wide-ranging speech, Senator Hinch told the chamber he was “honoured” to be elected, and at times “gobsmacked”, and outlined his other priorities, including legalising voluntary euthanasia and establishing a “living will” to boost organ donation rates.

The Justice Party senator has previously been fined and served jail time for breaching court orders and revealing the names and details of child and violent sex offenders.

This post originally appeared on ABC News. 

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