3 days ago
Rapist MP Gareth Ward resigns moments before historic vote in NSW parliament
Disgraced MP and convicted rapist Gareth Ward has reportedly resigned moments before historic vote to expel him from the NSW parliament.
Labor was expected to forward the motion to expel Ward in the Legislative Assembly at 10.30am, after a legal challenge at the Court of Appeal was shot down on Thursday.
Instead, Ward resigned hours before the vote was due to get underway.
Speaker of the house Greg Piper confirmed he had received a letter on Friday from Ward informing him of his resignation.
'I advise the house that, in accordance with section 33 of the Constitution Act 19 102 resignation of the member for Kiama took effect immediately upon my receipt of his Letter of Resignation at 9:08am,' Mr Piper said.
'I further inform the House that I intend to issue a writ for a by election to be held on a date to be determined.'
leader of the house Ron Hoenig confirmed the motion to expel Ward had been withdrawn.
'Not in 107 years has this house been required to expel a member,' he said.
'The fact that we were about to make such a determination is a pretty shameful exercise, and should have been done following the verdict by the jury.'
Mr Hoenig said Ward had sown a 'lack of respect' for the jury, the house, and for the people of Kiama.
'People of Kiama put their trust in the member for Kiama, knowing that he was charged with these offenses,' he said.
'They trusted his assertions of his innocence. They gave him the presumption of innocence, and they did what ... I thought were extraordinary in entrusting him to represent them in a way in which he could do so with integrity.
'The verdict of the jury has ensured that whatever assertions he made to the people of Kiama to enable him to be elected was certainly dishonest and certainly took them for a ride.'
Addressing the Legislative Assembly, Opposition Leader Mark Speakman said Ward had 'finally done the right thing' but that his constituents should have come first.
'The member for Kiama, at five minutes to midnight has done what he should have done at the outset, and that is resigned,' he said.
'He can exercise his appeal rights. He can protest his innocence, if that's what he wants to do, but his constituents come first.
'What the member for Kiama has done in the last couple of weeks, playing games with his constituents, playing games with you, Mr. Speaker, playing games with the government and the opposition and the general public is disgraceful.
'I think every member of this chamber's heart would go out to the victim survivors of those offenses, who, no doubt, continue to be traumatized and re-traumatized by the cat and mouse game that has gone on.'
Mr Speakman noted the motion was not a punishment, and to protect the integrity of the house.
Ward's resignation will cut short his taxpayer-funded salary and will trigger a by-election in the south coast seat of Kiama.
He served as the member for Kiama since 2011, but only narrowly beat out Labor's Katelin McInerney by 0.08 per cent on the two-party preferred vote.
Under former Premier Gladys Berejiklian, Ward served as Minister for Families from 2019 until 2021.
He was suspended from parliament from March 2022 after charges were laid against him, but re-entered parliament upon his re-election March 2023.
Premier Chris Minns and Opposition Leader Mark Speakman have indicated they would support Ward's expulsion after extensive calls on him to resign voluntarily.
The Kiama MP has been languishing in custody on remand after he was found guilty of three counts of indecent assault and a fourth count of intercourse without consent.
Ward was found guilty by a jury of the charges, which relate to acts against two men – an 18-year-old at Meroo Meadow in 2013 and a 24-year-old man in Potts Point in 2015.
He is expected be sentenced next month.
Ward's lawyer, Peter King, urged the court on Thursday to hold off on allowing the motion until after sentencing and any potential appeal, which could take years.
He alleged the motion to expel Ward was 'punitive' and reduced the Legislative Assembly to a 'kangaroo court' as Ward could not vote on the motion while in custody.
Under Standing Order 254 of the NSW parliament, an MP faces expulsion if they are found by the House to be 'guilty of conduct unworthy of a member of parliament'.
Craig Lenehan SC, representing the leader of the House Ron Hoenig said the expulsion was 'self-protective' of the House, and necessary to maintain trust in the institution.
In his judgment, Chief Justice Andrew Bell said each of the claims made by Ward's lawyer had been 'rejected'.
'There was no evidence to support the assertion that a resolution to expel the plaintiff would be punitive in scope and effect, and invalid for that reason,' he said.
He ordered that the interim injunction be dismissed.
A motion was expected to be introduced by Labor earlier in the week, but was scuttled when Ward's lawyers applied to the court for an injection on Monday afternoon.
