Somewhere between Gordon and Ballan, a young mother drove home the reason for the Jail to Justice campaign, says Derryn Hinch.
“I’m trudging along a country road, and I suddenly notice a farm house, in the middle of nowhere. Out the front there’s a young mum with a baby in her arms, standing on the corner waiting for us to come past so she could sign the petition and offer her support.
“And that’s what we’re all doing it for. For that child, and every other.”
As part of a campaign for a public register of convicted sex offenders, Mr Hinch’s 180-kilometre walk began on May 17 at Langi Kal Kal jail, where the radio broadcaster known as “the human headline” spent 50 days behind bars earlier this year after violating a suppression order.
Flanked by 10 supporters, Hinch’s halfway point was at the corner of Ingliston Road and Ingliston-Settlement Road on May 21.
Ballan mothers Michelle Weir and Ange Myers were part of the defiant group that set off from the corner of Old Melbourne Road and Old Geelong Road in Ballan that morning.
“We just want to show our support, we really appreciate what he’s doing,” Ms Myers said. “We’re all doing it for our and everyones’ children.”
Mr Hinch said he was honoured to have been joined by Moorabool residents every step of the way.
“Coming out of Gordon, we had more than 50 people. There were mums with prams and dogs, a gentleman who had had a stroke and was on a walking stick and a pregnant mum who started in her boots and ended up wearing her socks,” Mr Hinch said.
“You look back behind you, and they’ve all got a story to tell. And they’re all bad stories. The only happiness here is that people are out there doing something.”
Mr Hinch’s partner, ex-policewoman Natasha Chadwick, also did the walk, and said the number of horrific stories they’d heard made it blatantly obvious a registry of sex offenders was needed.
“At the moment, no one knows who these predators are,” she said. “They could be out walking around schools, footy fields or pools where children are, but if the public don’t recognise them they can’t call up and report them. There are so many victims out there, and the ones we’re hearing from are the ones who have been prepared to put their hands up or go to the authorities. A lot don’t.”
A petition started by Mr Hinch last September now has 115,000 signatures, and was presented yesterday to senior government officials at Parliament House.
Mr Hinch was joined by the families of murder victims, including Noelle Dickson, mum of murdered Bacchus Marsh woman Sarah Cafferkey, and the families of Daniel Morcombe, Luke Batty, Mersina Halvagis, Colleen and Laura Irvin, Sharon Siermans, Belinda Williams and Marie Greening Zidan.
“I’m not naive, it could take a few years until something is done, but we will win,” Mr Hinch said. “There will be a register.”
