Скачать или смотреть First Speech - Australian Parliament - Derryn Hinch - Senator for Victoria

On September 12, 2016 Senator Derryn Hinch took to the microphone in the Senate to deliver his first speech in the parliament of Australia.

At 72, Hinch became the oldest person to be elected as a Senator in the Australian federal parliament.

He is best known for his work on Melbourne radio and television.

Below is the start of speech. The full text is available at http://keatingmedia.com.au

Senator HINCH (Victoria) (17:03): Mr President and fellow senators, good evening. Thank you for attending my first speech. I am humbled and I am honoured—even a bit pinch-me gobsmacked—to be standing here as an elected representative of the people of Victoria. Being privately given my senator No. 576 security pin and symbolic gold pass by Rachel Callinan, the Usher of the Black Rod, touched me and moved me more than I could have ever known or dreamt.

Senator Hinch—last year it was not on my agenda or my bucket list. A year ago, we had just formed a political party. Hinch, a politician? Give me a break! He has been fighting with pollies and Prime Ministers for decades. But it is truly a great honour and a challenge, a big challenge, in any Australians' life to be chosen by the Australian people to represent them in this august national assembly, this chamber of democracy. It brings with it an awesome responsibility. I am now, as you all know, one of only 580 people who have held the title—ever. That is hundreds fewer than have worn the baggy green or played VFL or AFL football.

Reportedly, I am in the record books as being the oldest person ever elected to the Australian Senate, so I guess I will be enshrined as a Trivial Pursuit question! When that fact was made public, somebody tweeted, 'There should be an age limit in the Senate.' I tweeted back, 'I agree 100 per cent—what minimum age do you suggest?' Jokes aside, I do not take the task lightly; I believe I am in a unique position.

I have met every Australian Prime Minister since Robert Menzies—I met 'Ming' in 1964. I have interviewed most Prime Ministers since then, from Harold Holt on. I did not vote for any of them. I did not vote against them, because I still think compulsory voting is wrong. I think it is undemocratic and I will campaign against it while I am here. I also still believe that media commentators should be exempt from voting. They should not vote or, if they do, they should tell you how they vote. You can be granted an exemption—you may not know that—on religious grounds, so why not on moral, philosophical or occupational grounds? I have been accused of hypocrisy for voting for the first time on 2 July. Well, I am no longer a journalist. I did point out I had waited a lifetime to find somebody worth voting for, but that is a joke, Joyce!

I also think it is an appalling situation that, in this IT age, one month after a federal election the results still were not officially known—not to mention the census debacle. Surely something is rotten in the state of Denmark, as they say, when all of us here in the Senate today started getting our taxpayer funded pay cheque from 1 July when we did not even sit for one day in this chamber for the next two months and will barely sit again until Christmas.

Speaking of what happens and does not happen here in the Senate, I also think it is wrong that there are so many media restrictions on when and how you can be filmed or photographed in this chamber. It is wrong that a senator can only be photographed when he or she is on their feet and has the call. This is the people's house of review. The media should be able to see us in action or inaction. If you get caught nibbling your earwax, counting your money or dozing, that is tough. I was fair game when I got caught with eyes closed during the Governor-General's boring recital of Malcolm Turnbull's speech. I will introduce a motion to try to change this and I will join a press gallery High Court bid, if necessary, to allow the same freedoms for media photographers here as there are in the lower house.

My ambition in this house is to do my best for the people who elected me. I know all politicians say that—we all say that. I will call things as I see them; my career supports that. People ask me how come I get sacked so often. At last count, I have been fired 16 times. And I say, 'Well, they hire me for who I am and what I say, and then they fire me for who I am and what I say.' And the people of Australia, of Victoria, just hired me, and if they do not like it they are entitled to fire me.

It looks like it will be three years. It should be six, as you know, under S282, which was brought in by Prime Minister Bob Hawke, which he thought was a fair call. A six-year term for me, and the Greens Senator Rhiannon in New South Wales, was one of the recommendations from the Australian Electoral Commission when they returned the writs on 8 August. The electoral pendulum inventor, Malcolm Mackerras, agrees with that.