Australian lawmaker convicted of rape quits moments before vote to expel
him from Parliament
[August 08, 2025]
By CHARLOTTE GRAHAM-McLAY
WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — An Australian state lawmaker and
convicted rapist, who is in jail awaiting his sentence, quit his seat
Friday moments before a vote scheduled by his former colleagues to eject
him.
Gareth Ward, an independent member of parliament in New South Wales
state, earlier refused to resign despite his July convictions by a jury
for sex crimes against two young men. He failed in a legal bid Thursday
to stop his peers taking rare action to expel him.
Ward, 44, sexually assaulted a political staffer after a parliamentary
event in 2015 and abused an 18-year-old at the politician’s home in
2013. His sentencing on one count of sexual intercourse without consent
and three counts of indecent assault is scheduled for September.
Jailed lawmaker tries to stop ouster vote
In a bizarre and unusual episode for Australian politics, Ward refused
to resign even after his bail was revoked last week following the
convictions. He has said he plans to appeal and to keep his seat from
jail in the meantime, prompting derision from his peers.
“If you’re convicted of some of the most serious charges, sexual assault
in New South Wales, you can’t sit as a serving member of parliament
drawing a parliamentary salary,” state Premier Chris Minns told
reporters Friday. “How can you represent your community from behind bars
in Cessnock?”
Ward on Monday launched a legal challenge to an expulsion vote planned
for Tuesday. The bid was dismissed by an appeals court Thursday,
allowing a new parliamentary vote against him to be scheduled.
Resignation comes as lawmakers readied to vote
As lawmakers assembled to oust him from Parliament Friday morning — a
measure expected to draw cross-party support — Ward wrote to the speaker
of the house tendering his resignation. He would have been the first
lawmaker to be expelled from the lower house of the state parliament in
more than a century.
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Gareth Ward walks through waiting media as arrives at the
Darlinghurst Courthouse in Sydney, Wednesday, July 30, 2025. (Dan
Himbrechts/AAP Image via AP)
Leader of the House Ron Hoenig told reporters it was “shameful” that
Ward had taken so long to quit.
“I would have thought being a convicted rapist is enough infamy
without going down in history as both a convicted rapist as well as
the first person in a century to be expelled,” Hoenig said.
Expulsions from Australian legislatures are rare and only lawmakers
in New South Wales and Victoria have ever exercised their powers to
oust their peers by vote. The last lawmaker expelled from New South
Wales’ lower house for “unworthy conduct” was in 1917.
Constituents reelected Ward despite the charges
Ward had held the seat of Kiama since 2011, first with the
center-right Liberal Party and then as an independent after he quit
the group when the charges against him emerged. A date has not been
set for a byelection in his seat.
His constituents reelected him in 2023, despite his 2022 suspension
from Parliament awaiting trial.
Ward’s lawyer argued in the state’s appeals court Thursday that the
fact of his convictions alone did not automatically mean his conduct
was unworthy. In a scathing decision rejecting his legal bid, the
court ordered Ward to pay costs.
The former lawmaker faces a prison term of up to 14 years. He did
not comment publicly Friday.
Ward was the state’s minister for families, communities and
disability services between 2019 and 2021. He served an eight-year
term as a local council member before entering Parliament.
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