VETERAN journalist Derryn Hinch, who was imprisoned twice for contempt of court, has said he was fed better in jail than most elderly people in aged care facilities.
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He was in Bendigo on Saturday on the campaign trail ahead of his tilt at a Victorian Senate seat at the coming election.
Mr Hinch said he wanted to regain a place in Federal Parliament to push for nurse-to-patient ratios and improved nutrition, especially in light of the revelations of the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety.
"The average spend per person on aged care for food is $6.07 per day," he said.
"The last time I was in prison I got $10 a day for meals and all of the free milk I wanted. I was sharing a cell block with a couple of Lebanese guys and they were using eight to 10 litres of milk a day and making yoghurt with it. We were in prison eating chops and chicken."
Mr Hinch was sentenced to custody three times for contempt during his journalistic career for naming people in defiance of court orders suppressing their identities.
His third sentence was to home detention, rather than jail. He is running for the Derryn Hinch's Justice Party and his platform is heavily focused on the legal system. He is campaigning for a public sex offender register, removal of "weak judges" from the bench, aged care reforms and an end to animal cruelty.
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He was a Victorian senator from 2016 to 2019. He said there were some things he regretted saying during his term in Parliament and hoped he would get the chance to represent Victorians again.
"Last time I was in the Senate I said a clever line and it hurt me. It was just after Kerryn Phelps got in and I said 'great - it's the Kerryn and Derryn show" and people thought I'd turned into a greenie. I still get asked about it. I'm in the centre."
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