The indestructible Derryn Hinch is sitting near his walking frame, recovering from a “bad fall”, contemplating life in a nursing home and the possibility of being a candidate for voluntary assisted dying.
He admits he has only “a few years left” and there’s time for reflection, but no regrets.
Examples: he doesn’t like being called the “human headline”, doesn’t think he has often been wrong, admits to being inconsistent, agrees he was an alcoholic but still drinks, says one of his toughest times was being falsely accused of rape, and claims that he is in no way arrogant, something which may surprise some.
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https://omny.fm/shows/neil-mitchell-asks-why/derryn-hinch/embed?style=cover
Hinch is 81 now, and after four wives, 17 sackings, three stints as a prisoner, several dances with death and treating his liver like a punching bag for decades he’s still competitively driven, preparing in advance for criticisms he suspected would be raised in this discussion.
I spoke to him for my podcast Neil Mitchell Asks Why? at his city flat, which is small but has some of the most magnificent views in Melbourne.
It is here, surrounded by personal memorabilia, that he reads, sleeps, does puzzles and “cloud watches”.
It’s an age away from the opening nights, long lunches, Rolls-Royces and pay cheques which today would still be staggering.
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Of course, even with age, some things never change.
The man whose every hiccough has been public property for more than 40 years is happy to share his battles with the pain of ageing.
“Originally, I thought I didn’t ever want to go into a nursing home,” Hinch told me.
“But I’m told now by some of the nursing homes I’ve been talking to that you can still socialise there and it’s not like you are locked away.”
And death?
He’s had liver cancer, a liver transplant, facial melanoma that required significant radiation treatment, a life-threatening blood infection, and recently cardiac arrhythmia, where the heart doesn’t beat properly and is effectively stopped and restarted to get back into rhythm.
“I’m very lucky that my brain still seems to be going,” he said.
“Some people will dispute that, but it seems to be.
“But if my brain went, I’ve told my medical attorney not to revive me.”
And would he consider voluntary assisted dying?
“Yes, I would. Yes. One of my best friends, Bob Rogers, did have his life taken by voluntary assisted dying because he had no quality of life.
“He couldn’t go to the toilet by himself. He couldn’t shower. He couldn’t dress himself.
“And the last time I took him out to lunch I had to get on my hands and knees to lift his feet into a taxi.
“I thought, ‘This is not living.'”
Rogers, who was 97, died in May last year.
He was a broadcasting icon for over 78 years.
Hinch, who was described as a spokesman for the Rogers family after the death, once offered to fly with Rogers to a Zurich euthanasia clinic and “be with him while he went”.
But the family did not agree.
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Hinch himself has been close to death at least twice.
His liver transplant was 14 years ago and was, he says, a “punt”.
The donor liver came from a drug addict and may have carried dangerous infections.
It later emerged that without the surgery, Hinch would have been dead in two weeks.
But he remains a committed atheist, not having a “bob each way” as the inevitable approaches.
“When you’re dead, you’re dead. I don’t believe in heaven and I get uncomfortable when people say, ‘Oh, he will meet so and so upstairs.’
“I find that pretty embarrassing.
“I stopped taking communion when I was about 12 and told my parents I didn’t believe it anymore. I have no belief at all.”
Except, perhaps, self-belief.
His mind remains sharp and the strong self-belief hasn’t faded.
He has no self-doubt.
Booze has been a constant in the Hinch life.
Lunches were marathons and he once wrote a newspaper column claiming to drink four bottles of white wine every day.
That’s eight times the recommended daily intake, and exactly why he ended with cirrhosis of the liver.
He reluctantly agrees he “thinks” he was an alcoholic and says he stopped drinking for eight years out of respect for the donor of his liver.
He now drinks occasionally, he says.
So why the broken promise?
“It’s partly because I’ve only got a few years left. I want to live well. But partly because my donor was a drug addict.
“I think I’ve made a deal with him.”
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I’ve had many disagreements with Hinch over the years.
He showed few regrets as we argued the cases again, particularly how he reported the deaths of cricket legend David Hookes and television icon Graham Kennedy.
On the day of Hookes’ funeral, Hinch broadcast that the cricketer had a girlfriend many didn’t know about.
He claimed on-air Graham Kennedy “died with AIDS”, which he now admits was “a mistake ” and says he has apologised.
Admitting he was wrong does not come easily.
Hinch’s catchphrase was always “all history owes the dead is the truth” while I argued publishing anything required a balance between benefit and hurt.
We still don’t agree.
He was deeply upset by losing his Senate seat after only three years, but immensely proud of driving legislation to stop international travel by sex offenders.
As a commentator and a senator he has seen many politicians first hand: he gets on well with Anthony Albanese, thinks John Howard was a good leader, is very fond of Malcom Turnbull, thinks Bob Hawke was not a nice man, and Jeff Kennett is an enigma.
Hinch has been seriously broke, with less than $20 available at the ATM.
He has been very rich, and once owned two Rolls-Royces, one for himself and one for then wife Jacqui Weaver.
They were different colours, he says.
There’s no doubt he’s been a trouble magnet, a larger than life tabloid journalist at times ahead of his time and at times infuriating with his uncompromising views.
In that sense, age hasn’t changed him.
In Derryn’s world, there are rarely shades of grey.
Lack of confidence has never been his problem, although he does say the nickname “human headline” seems “narcissistic”.
This is how our discussion ended:
MITCHELL: You have no self-doubt. You stand by things you’ve done. You don’t really see many mistakes in your life. Do you think you’re arrogant?
HINCH: That’s for you to decide.
MITCHELL: That’s a political answer. You’re back in the bloody Senate. What do you think?
HINCH: I don’t think it’s arrogant. I think it’s just confidence.
MITCHELL: What’s the difference?
HINCH: Donald Trump is arrogant. I’m self-confident.
Neil Mitchell is a news analyst and podcaster. Neil Mitchell asks Why? is posted each Tuesday.
