2 days ago
Young Liberals expel Gareth Ward as party announces Kiama candidate
Disgraced former MP Gareth Ward has been stripped of life membership for the young Liberals club he was once the president of, nearly three weeks after being found guilty of sex crimes.
The University of Wollongong's Liberal Club suspended Ward's membership in 2021 when he was first charged.
On Thursday night, in its first meeting since Ward was convicted by a jury of sexually abusing two young men, the club expelled its first life member entirely.
"It's abhorrent, its predatory," current president Oliver Griffiths said of the crimes.
"How are we supposed to be a flourishing Liberal club if those kinds of actions are condoned?"
Mr Griffiths said Ward had maintained close ties to the club up until his suspension and had used it to recruit young Liberal members.
The move came ahead of NSW Liberal leader Mark Speakman travelling to Nowra on Friday to announce former Shoalhaven councillor Serena Copley as the party's candidate for the Kiama by-election.
The by-election, triggered after Ward resigned from office ahead of a bid to expel him from parliament, will be held on September 13.
Mr Speakman acknowledged the race would be challenging, given Ward held the seat for the Liberals for 11 years, but said the party wanted to give voters a choice.
"We are the underdogs, but I am determined to take it up to Labor because people in the Kiama electorate deserve to have a choice and deserve to have their say after two and a bit years of a government that has turned its back on that electorate," he said.
At the 2023 election, the Liberal primary vote in Kiama was just 12 per cent, with Ward winning the seat as an independent not long after being expelled from the party.
Ms Copley said Ward had been a "prominent figure in the local political landscape for a long time" and acknowledged she had on occasion met him at council functions.
She said her focus was now entirely on the community and delivering for residents into the future.
"We have to continue to improve services and fight for what people aren't getting at the moment," she said.
"They're being forgotten by the Labor government.
"It's imperative that we put our community first, and that's what I am 100 per cent focused on, delivering for my community."
When asked how she would win back voters' trust after Ward's tenure, Ms Copley said: "I can only put myself forward and ask the community to look at my track record."
Ms Copley chose a North Nowra park location to highlight the work she had done for the community during her time as a councillor.
Pointing to the playground behind her, where her grandson played on a swing, she said it was previously just a vacant reserve.
Four weeks of campaigning will ramp up from next week, with the Greens set to announce a candidate on Monday.
Katelin McInerney will contest for Labor and Community Independent Kate Dezarnaulds will also run, just months after a failed bid to contest the federal seat of Gilmore.
