{"id":140183,"date":"2025-09-13T12:57:12","date_gmt":"2025-09-13T12:57:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/140183\/"},"modified":"2025-09-13T12:57:12","modified_gmt":"2025-09-13T12:57:12","slug":"labor-win-kiama-by-election-as-voters-replace-disgraced-mp-gareth-ward","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/140183\/","title":{"rendered":"Labor win Kiama by-election as voters replace disgraced MP Gareth Ward"},"content":{"rendered":"

Labor candidate Katelin McInerney has won the Kiama by-election replacing disgraced former MP Gareth Ward.<\/p>\n

The party made the call with less than 40 per cent of the vote counted, and with Ms McInerney holding a significant lead over Liberal candidate Serena Copley.<\/p>\n

Ms Copley conceded defeat alongside Liberal leader Mark Speakman.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Woman<\/p>\n

Katelin McInereny speaks to her supporters after winning the Kiama by-election. (ABC Illawarra: Romy Gilbert)<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, NSW Premier Chris Minns said Kiama now has a voice for the community.<\/p>\n

“I want to thank the people of Kiama for putting their trust in Labor. We do not take that trust for granted,” he said in a statement.<\/p>\n

“We promised if Katelin was elected, the people of Kiama would have a strong local voice inside government, fighting for better schools, better hospitals, and the infrastructure the community deserves.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“Kiama now has that voice inside government, and I know Katelin will be a fierce advocate for her community.”<\/p>\n

Ms McInerney thanked the community and the Premier for putting their faith in her.<\/p>\n

“I was incredibly humbled and I’m so grateful [Minns] put his faith in me,” she said.<\/p>\n

“He showed up so often for this party , for us and for the people of Kiama.”\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Kiama High School graduate said she will be a strong advocate for the region.<\/p>\n

“I will be a strong advocate and strong voice in the NSW Parliament on your behalf representing this community every day,” she said.<\/p>\n

\"two<\/p>\n

Labor supporters like Andrew Rees and his mother Mrs Rees swarmed Albion Park pre-polls today for photos with the Premier Chris Minns and candidate Katelin McInerney. (ABC Illawarra: Kelly Fuller)<\/p>\n

Meanwhile Serena Copley told her supporters that while she lost this fight she will not be giving up.<\/p>\n

“It was a battle, it was a fight, we knew it was going to be tough.” she said.<\/p>\n

“We didn’t get the result that we wanted, but that doesn’t mean it’s over. We will continue to fight on into the future.”\"Woman<\/p>\n

Serena Copley speaking to her supporters after conceding defeat in the Kiama by-election.\u00a0 (ABC News: Liam Patrick)<\/p>\n

It comes after more than 60,000 people in the south coast seat cast their vote for a new member of parliament.<\/p>\n

Ward held the seat from his election in 2011 until his resignation last month <\/a>after he was found guilty of sexually abusing two young men after a nine-week trial in the NSW District Court.<\/p>\n

Blackbutt local Emma Onus said she was glad there would be a new representative for the community.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“I think most people are glad to see Gareth go, to be honest,” she said.<\/p>\n

“We all need representation. We’re a big area and we have a lot of issues and we need those looked at and by someone who has the area’s interest at heart.”Seat hotly contested<\/p>\n

The four-week campaign, which brought Premier Chris Minns to the electorate 10 times, has focused on local schools, hospitals and housing.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Opposition leader Mark Speakman repeatedly appeared at local sporting fields, business meetings and infrastructure projects to endorse Liberal candidate Serena Copley.<\/p>\n

Andrew Rees said he travelled to Mount Terry Public School at Albion Park with his mother to vote and was happy to throw his support behind Katelin McInerney.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey do a lot of good for the country,” Mr Rees said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“I think they have the right direction. I think the country’s in a better direction because of Labor governments.”<\/p>\n

\"several<\/p>\n

Independent Kate Dezarnaulds gathers with representatives from across the political spectrum at pre poll Albion Park. (ABC Illawarra: Sarah Moss)<\/p>\n

Independents are circling in a crowded field of 13, but only Climate 200-backed Community Independent candidate Kate Dezarnaulds lives in the area.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Emma Onus says she voted for Ms Dezarnaulds because she is keen for a fresh start.<\/p>\n

“Kate doesn’t have party restrictions against her so she can get out there and say what she wants and do what she wants and that’s exciting,” she said.<\/p>\n

\"woman<\/p>\n

Emma Onus said she was keen for a community Independent to take the seat to shake things up for the electorate.\u00a0 (ABC Illawarra: Romy Gilbert)<\/p>\n

Jane Ambristo said she voted “Liberal, of course” but recognised the party’s candidate Serena Copley had reputational damage to overcome in the wake of Ward’s trial.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“We wouldn’t be here if Gareth had’ve done the right thing in the beginning,” she said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Labor candidate Katelin McInerney has won the Kiama by-election replacing disgraced former MP Gareth Ward. The party made…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":140184,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[95776,43,61572,44,9801,95777,41,39,42,40,19400],"class_list":["post-140183","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-byelection","tag-headlines","tag-mp","tag-news","tag-parliament","tag-prepol","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories","tag-voting"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/140183","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=140183"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/140183\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/140184"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=140183"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=140183"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=140183"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}