Mr Hinch, who served a term as a senator in Canberra from 2016 to 2019 but did not get back in following the last election, said he was “destroyed” after that count but was back on the campaign trail.
The Derryn Hinch Justice Party is campaigning on the creation of an independent panel of legal experts that would be able to sack judges that Mr Hinch said were “weak”.
Mr Hinch also wants to ensure people accused of serious offences were unable to get out on bail.
“Bail is given out so easily, suspended sentences are given out too easily.
“Likewise, if you are convicted of child sex offences, you should know you’re going to jail. Without a doubt. There’s no ifs or buts.”
In his opinion, some judges and magistrates were no longer in touch with community standards, citing one example where a man who had been involved in a fatal collision was still driving around his community, to the shock of the mother of the victim.
“Again and again judges’ sentences, in my mind, are manifestly inadequate and well below accepted community standards,” Mr Hinch said.
He does not support raising the age of criminal conviction from 10 to 14, which has support from many advocacy groups in Australia and overseas.
“I understand where they’re coming from that you should be trying to help kids — because the best way to develop a criminal career is to be in jail and that will enhance your criminal knowledge — but you can’t just say that a 14 or 13-year-old should not be responsible for his or her behaviour,” Mr Hinch said.
He is also seeking more funding and support for aged care, which he said he tried championing as a senator pre-pandemic, but the major parties weren’t interested in increasing the standard of living for people in care.
“The Royal Commission found that the average spend on food was $6.07 a day,’’ he said.
“Now when was the last time I was in jail, we got $10 a day and all the free milk you wanted,” he said.
Mr Hinch said the pandemic had shone a light on the state of aged care.
“You can see how many people have died, especially in private care,’’ he said.
“I mean the state-run ones have been much better, much more impressive.'’
He also said regional rail needed to be given more funding and proposed that for every dollar spent in a metropolitan area another dollar should be spent on regional rail.
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