NSW parliament seeks urgent appeal hearing to expel rapist MP Gareth Ward

3 months ago 22

Convicted rapist Gareth Ward will remain as the MP for Kiama until at least Thursday when an urgent hearing before the Court of Appeal will consider whether an injunction stopping parliament from expelling him should be upheld.

The leader of the government in the lower house, Ron Hoenig, Speaker Greg Piper and the clerk of the NSW parliament on Tuesday asked the Court of Appeal to urgently relist the matter in a bid to have the Supreme Court’s orders lifted to enable MPs to vote on an expulsion motion this week.

Gareth Ward leaves court on July 25 after becoming a convicted rapist.

Parliament is only sitting this week and if MPs cannot vote on a motion to expel Ward, he will continue receiving his taxpayer-funded salary while on remand in prison ahead of his sentencing hearing next month. He is now in Cessnock jail after being moved from Silverwater.

Lawyers for Ward on Monday night sought an injunction to stop the 44-year-old from being expelled from parliament. An appeal has been listed for hearing at 9.30am on Thursday.

Ward, the former families minister, was represented in the Court of Appeal by barrister Peter King, a one-time federal Liberal MP for Wentworth.

The NSW lower house intended to move to expel Ward from parliament on Tuesday, but a vote on the motion was delayed after his lawyers successfully sought an injunction.

Leader of the House Ron Hoenig and Treasurer Daniel Mookhey on Tuesday morning.

Ward, the MP for Kiama since 2011, was found guilty last month of one count of sexual intercourse without consent and three counts of indecent assault against two young men he had met through his role as a parliamentarian.

His bail was revoked last Wednesday, but he has not resigned his seat in parliament, prompting Hoenig to write to Ward asking him to provide any statement or material he wanted the Legislative Assembly to consider before any move to expel him.

Under the NSW Constitution Act, an MP’s seat is declared vacant if they are convicted of crime that is punishable by five years or more in prison, although under changes to the law in 2000, conviction is considered to mean “once you have reached the end of the appeals process, if you choose to appeal, and not had the conviction overturned”.

Ward issued a statement late last week confirming he intended to appeal his conviction. However, parliament also has the power to expel an MP for “unworthy conduct”.

Hoenig has claimed the appeals process could drag on so long that “the people of Kiama ... could be represented by somebody in custody right up until the next election”.

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