Parliament set to expel Gareth Ward after legal challenge fails

A court has found the NSW Parliament can proceed with a motion to expel Gareth Ward from the house after his last-minute legal challenge failed.

The Kiama MP was last month found guilty 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 an MP.

His bail was revoked last Wednesday. Ward has ignored calls from both sides of parliament to resign and is still receiving his taxpayer funded salary from behind bars.

The government intended to expel Ward on Tuesday, which was supported by Ward’s former colleagues in the Liberal Party. They were blocked when Ward’s solicitors were granted an injunction by a Supreme Court judge, stopping the parliament from debating the motion until the court could decide if it should proceed.

Ward’s barrister, one-time Wentworth federal MP Peter King, argued at a final hearing on Thursday that his client was to be expelled “by a kangaroo court”.

He claimed references to Ward’s four convictions in a letter informing him of the parliament’s intentions last week weren’t enough to demonstrate he’d behaved in a way unworthy of the house.

He told the court the motion was punitive because it would trigger a byelection, meaning Ward was being punished for his convictions by losing the opportunity to regain his seat.

Chief Justice Andrew Bell said the court rejected these arguments. The panel of three judges ruled the motion should be allowed to proceed.

The motion is expected to be debated on Friday.

“The electorate of Kiama would be re-enfranchised by the holding of a byelection,” Bell said.

The government’s barrister Craig Lenehan SC told the court that parliament should be able to form the view that “a member convicted by a jury of a serious sex offence should be expelled in order to protect the mutual trust and confidence of its members”.

Lenehan argued there was no evidence to show any “illicit punitive purpose” for the motion.

Ward’s expulsion is expected to have broad support in the parliament. Liberal leader Mark Speakman has repeatedly called on his former colleague to resign.

“Every day he clings to his seat from a jail cell, taxpayers are footing the bill and the people of Kiama are left voiceless. It’s not just wrong, it’s offensive,” Speakman said on Tuesday.

Asked by Ben Fordham on radio 2GB on Tuesday morning if most people in Ward’s position would just “read the room and resign”, Premier Chris Minns replied: “Clearly he’s got no shame.”

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