FORMER NSW Family Minister Gareth Ward has been told he doesn’t belong in the Liberal Party and that he should quit parliament immediately.
These demands from NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet follow Mr Ward being charged earlier this week with multiple counts of sexual assault against a 27-year-old man and a teenager.
- Mr Ward has been accused of five charges in total, according to the BBC.
- The most serious carries a maximum 14-year jail term.
- Mr Ward has denied all charges.
Mr Ward, the MP for Kiama who currently sits on State parliament’s cross benches, has denied the charges
International media has picked up on the story with Britain’s BBC claiming Mr Perrottet was set to move a motion to expel Mr Ward from parliament, if he didn’t resign voluntarily.
CONTROVERSIALLY
Mr Ward, 40, who as a senior member of the Liberal Party’s radical Left faction, was controversially promoted into the family portfolio despite being unmarried and childless.
He has been accused of five charges in total, according to the BBC.
The most serious – a charge of sexual intercourse without consent – carries a maximum 14-year jail term.
“Police will allege in court that the man indecently assaulted a 17-year-old boy at [NSW suburb] Meroo Meadow in February 2013, and sexually abused a 27-year-old man in Sydney in September 2015,” NSW Police said in a short statement.
No further details were provided by police.
Mr Ward revealed last year that he was being investigated by police, prompting him to resign as minister for families, communities and disability services
At the samed time he moved to the parliamentary cross benches.
On Tuesday, Mr Perrottet said he would move a motion to remove Mr Ward from parliament if he did not resign.
COMPATIBLE
Mr Ward should be presumed innocent but it was “not compatible with the seriousness of the charges” for him to remain as an MP, the Premier said.
Mr Ward is due to face a court in May.
Mr Ward has a colourful history.
In August 2017 he made international headlines after being involved in a “special massage” incident at a New York hotel.
According to the New York Post, Mr Ward had been caught up in a massage scam with two men demanding he pay them $US1000.
At the time, New York media reported that Mr Ward had placed a call from his hotel room asking for a “special massage” after a referral by an acquaintance. Mr Ward denied he requested a “special” massage.
Then, in 2020, he was twice caught naked and disoriented wandering outside his apartment block in Sydney. He wasn’t charged over these incidents.
Despite his chequered past, Mr Ward was given charge of more than 15,000 of the State’s most vulnerable children as Minister for Families, Communities and Disability Services.PC
As one of Ward’s constituents, and trust me I’m no fan, I’m having some real difficulty with Macquarie Street seeing fit to decide on Kiama representation.
We have courts to decide guilt or innocence, and we have elections to decide our political representatives. It’s not up to other MPs, radio shock jocks or social media numskulls to playing any part in those processes.
Ward is facing some serious charges, but like everyone he should face a fair trial without undue influence or coercion. Our court must decide, as should the voters of Kiama, should an absence seat be the outcome.
The premier and state opposition lead can stick their convected moral outrage back in the box, it’s not required and it’s liable to create one hell of a free pass, no fair trial possible argument for any defence worth their hefty fee.
I’m struggling to understand what is worse. The LNP is truly doomed with the calibre of its MPs and the calibre of its politics.
Ward should never have been allowed to join the Liberal Party in the first place. That he was promoted so far is an indication of the madness that has befallen this once honourable Party. It’s time Mr Perrottet “advised” the rest of the party’s radical left to move on. Starting with Matt Kean but not limited to him. James Griffin, Natalie Ward and the rest of the self-serving radicals should be shown the door.