Convicted rapist Gareth Ward has resigned as a New South Wales MP just moments before the state’s parliament was due to expel him. The resignation automatically vacates his south coast seat, meaning there will be a byelection. The seat was held by Ward for the Liberal party from 2011 until he left the party, after which he ran as an independent.
Ward was found guilty in July of sexually abusing two young men in 2013 and 2015. He is appealing against the convictions, which include three counts of indecent assault and one for sexual intercourse without consent. He is due to be sentenced next month.
The resignation marks the end of a difficult chapter for the NSW parliament. In 2021, Ward left the Liberal party and moved to the crossbench after identifying himself as the state MP under investigation by the child abuse and sex crimes squad. When charges were laid in March 2022, the then NSW premier, Dominic Perrottet, called for his resignation. Later that month, Ward was suspended after a motion unanimously passed the Legislative Assembly. In August 2022, Ward was committed to stand trial. But voters in Kiama re-elected him in March 2023 and he returned to Macquarie Street as an independent.
Ward sought an ex parte injunction on Monday night to prevent the parliament from expelling him, but the court of appeal lifted the injunction on Thursday, clearing the way for parliament to force him out on Friday. That was scheduled to occur at 10.30am with the support of both Labor and the opposition. But Ward resigned by letter at about 9am on Friday.
The chief justice, Andrew Bell, oversaw Thursday’s court hearing alongside justice Anna Mitchelmore and Jeremy Kirk. Bell, who delivered the judgment, said he rejected the arguments put forward by Ward’s lawyers, stating the “notice of intention to appeal does not affect the power of the assembly to expel him”. The speaker must now issue a writ for a byelection under the Electoral Act. In practice, it can take some days or weeks for the writ to be issued.
The leader of the house, Ron Hoenig, said he was withdrawing the motion to expel Ward. “It is regrettable that this house has been put through this difficulty. But better late than never. It is better to avoid having to do something that the house hasn’t done in 107 years,” he said on Friday. The premier, Chris Minns, said the government would seek to recover costs for the supreme court action from Ward. The opposition leader, Mark Speakman, strongly criticised Ward’s “five minutes to midnight” resignation, calling it disgraceful.
