NSW MP and convicted sex offender Gareth Ward has resigned from the state parliament ahead of a motion to expel him.
Ward has been in jail since last week after he was convicted by a jury of sex offences against two young men.
The Court of Appeal on Thursday rejected his legal bid to prevent the Legislative Assembly exercising its power to expel him.
The government was expected to move to expel the former Coalition minister on Friday morning.
Speaker Greg Piper told the assembly he received a resignation letter “effective immediately” from Ward at 9.08am.
Minns says Ward should have quit earlier
NSW Premier Chris Minns says a lot of time has been wasted by Ward delaying his resignation. (ABC News: Warwick Ford)
Premier Chris Minns said the resignation should have come earlier and that a lot of the government’s “time, effort and energy” was spent in the NSW Supreme Court trying to resolve the matter.
“If you’re convicted of some of the most serious charges, sexual assault in NSW, you can’t sit as a serving member parliament drawing a parliamentary salary,” Mr Minns said on Friday.
“How can you represent your community from behind bars in Cessnock?”
Mr Minns confirmed he expected the Speaker to issue the writs next week for a by-election to be held in the state seat of Kiama.
He said his party would be making plans.
“We’re certainly looking at it very closely … I expect us to run and give the voters of Kiama a choice, whenever that by-election will be,” Mr Minns said.
Constituents respond
News of Ward’s resignation has been welcomed in his former electorate with a number of Kiama constituents describing it as overdue.Â
“I am disgusted Gareth Ward was sitting in jail while he was paid out money — $5,000 a week,” local Carol said.
“As soon as he was found guilty, he should have sacked or at least stood down — he should have been evicted from that office.”
Another resident, Sarah, said: “I think he should have stood down, I think the biggest thing with such a small community in Kiama is trust”.Â
“If you can’t trust your local member then who do you turn to?”
‘Pretty shameful exercise’
Leader of the House Ron Hoenig said Ward’s failure to resign earlier demonstrated a lack of respect for the jury and the parliament.
“Not in 107 years has this house been required to expel a member,” Mr Hoenig said.
“The fact that we were about to make such a determination is a pretty shameful exercise.”
Mr Hoenig criticised Ward’s decision to not resign earlier. (ABC News)
The Labor frontbencher hit out at Ward’s “vexatious” attempt to get the courts to prevent his expulsion.
“For the former member of Kiama to continue to pursue a purported legal challenge, to assert somehow in the courts that this house doesn’t have the inherent power that it’s had since the 17th century and through the passing of the Bill of Rights Act, in itself, was extraordinary,” Mr Hoenig said.
“I and you, Mr Speaker, and the clerk, had to undergo what I consider to be vexatious litigation … simply to maintain the traditions and inherent power of this house.”
‘Should never have come to this’
Opposition Leader Mark Speakman told parliament that Ward resigned at “five minutes to midnight” on Thursday.
“The member for Kiama, at five minutes to midnight, has done what he should have done from the outset and that is resign.
“It should have never have come to this,” Mr Speakman said.
“He [Ward] 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.”
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11h agoFri 8 Aug 2025 at 1:29am
Press conference over
Thanks for joining us, the press conference with Mr Minns and Mr Hoenig has finished.
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11h agoFri 8 Aug 2025 at 1:25am
Premier looking at Kiama byelection ‘very closely’
Premier Chris Minns said his party will be making plans ahead of the eventual Kiama byelection.
Constituents in Kiama had re-elected Ward in 2023, allowing him to return to parliament as an independent.
“We’ve got to make a decision about our candidacy. We’re certainly looking at it very closely.
“I expect us to run and give the voters of Kiama a choice, whenever that byelection will be,” he said.
11h agoFri 8 Aug 2025 at 1:22am
Leader of the House questions why Ward resigned in the final hour
When asked why he believed Ward waited until the final hour to resign from NSW parliament, Mr Hoenig said he believed it came down to the pending likelihood of expulsion.
“I think it was very clear that the House were about to do something, that it had not done in 107 years,” he said.
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