Derryn Hinch has passed away aged 82.
The New Zealand-born radio host, who was known for his distinctive broadcast style and for exposing sex offenders that earned him massive fines and stints in jail, died on Friday morning.
His death was confirmed on-air on 3AW and by his former colleague and personal assistant Annette Philpott in a separate interview with the Daily Mail.
“He’s had really tough times of late. He’s been in and out of hospital. I’m assuming his heart just gave out,” she said, attributing his death to “old age”.
The broadcaster died in his sleep.
Former colleague Peter Ford told 3AW that Hinch was an important figure in the history of the radio station.
“It is one of those moments when you think that was an extraordinary life and career,” he said.
“It’s an amazing story of somebody who, as a young guy in rural New Zealand, had dreams of getting into journalism and slowly but surely, boy, did he do that.
“Apart from having a really good journalist’s mind for a story, he knew how to write a story, how to present a story … he knew a good yarn when he heard it.
“Now that wasn’t to say, of course, that he wasn’t provocative; he stirred the pot a lot, he upset people a lot, and he saw that almost as being validation of doing his job well.”
In a separate tribute shared to X, the Australian TV and radio commentator, said he was “deeply saddened” by the news.
“What a life and career. Fearless and provocative. He achieved all he wanted to do in life. RIP,” he wrote on X.
Denis O’Kane, who had a good working relationship with Hinch since the late 1970s shared he had recently visited Hinch.
“Derryn hadn’t changed, a lot of fun, serious guy to a lot of people but also when you’re out with him, he was so much fun,” he told 3AW listeners.
“A great man … and we love him very much.”
Born in New Zealand, Hinch began his journalism career at The Taranaki Herald at the age of 15 before moving to Australia, where he worked as a police reporter for The Sun in Sydney.
Over more than six decades, he became one of Australia’s best-known media personalities, working across newspapers, radio and television.
He hosted talkback radio programs in Melbourne, Sydney and Adelaide, including long-running stints at Melbourne’s 3AW, and fronted current affairs programs on the Seven and Ten networks.
He also hosted The Midday Show on Nine and appeared on Beauty and the Beast.
Known for his outspoken style and catchphrases, including “That’s life” and “Shame, shame, shame”, Hinch later entered politics, founding the Derryn Hinch Justice Party in 2015.
He was elected to the Senate in 2016, serving one term until 2019, where he campaigned for tougher laws on child sex offenders and was credited with introducing legislation restricting overseas travel for convicted offenders.
Hinch’s career was also marked by repeated legal battles over breaching suppression orders and contempt of court laws after naming child sex offenders, resulting in convictions that saw him jailed, placed under home detention and later imprisoned after refusing to pay a fine.
The broadcaster had struggled with his declining health since 2006, when he revealed he had a tumour on his liver. It was later revealed that he had an inoperable liver cancer.
In 2011, he underwent a successful liver transplant surgery.
Last year, the broadcaster spoke candidly about his declining health in an interview with A Current Affair.
At the time, he revealed he had suffered 30 falls over the year, with one that resulted in him being hospitalised.
Hinch was married five times, including twice to Academy Award-nominated actress Jacki Weaver.
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