A man who has accused Kiama MP Gareth Ward of sexual assault has been questioned whether he told a fellow parliamentary staffer the then-premier had “chosen a rapist” when appointing him to the ministry.
Ward was in 2019 appointed minister for Families, Communities and Disability Services during Gladys Berejiklian’s second term as premier, two years before the alleged victim spoke to police.
Kiama MP Gareth Ward is on trial over the alleged indecent assault of one man and alleged rape of another.Credit: Steven Siewert
In 2022, Ward was charged with one count of sexual intercourse without consent against the man, then aged 24, following an event at Parliament House in 2015. Ward has also been charged with three counts of assault with an act of indecency involving an 18-year-old man in 2013. He has pleaded not guilty to all charges.
Facing his second day of cross-examination on Tuesday, the older man testified he had told fellow staffers he thought Ward was “creepy”. However, he couldn’t recall if he told police that he had labelled Ward a rapist to colleagues.
“You said words to the effect, ‘Gladys has chosen a rapist as a minister in her cabinet,’” Ward’s barrister, David Campbell, SC, asked.
“I don’t recall the conversation in great detail,” the man said, but added it was consistent with what he had reported. He said the allegation was “incredibly embarrassing”.
“I don’t believe it’s something I would chuck in general conversation,” he said.
Campbell also questioned why the man would tell police that he found the prospect of working with Ward “fearful”, but at the same time apply for a job with him.
“Sometimes your head goes all over the place,” the man said. “I have always said I have immense respect for [Ward].”
In the letter of application, the court heard the man wrote: “I would have no hard feelings should you be unable to find a role for me … Your friendship means the world to me, and my respect for you is already as high as it can be.”
Gareth Ward outside the Downing Centre District Court last week.Credit: Jessica Hromas
“That’s hardly a sentence that you would use to describe a man whom you allege previously sexually violated you,” Campbell said.
“I was applying for a job, and sometimes I overcompensate,” the man said.
Campbell also questioned the level of detail he told a friend and colleague at a pub, which he later relayed to police in 2021.
“You told police you’d said to [her] that you thought you’d been assaulted,” Campbell said, which the man denied.
“I remember telling her I had been at a very low point, and [Ward] took me to his house. He pleasured himself … I remember not going into too much detail because she had just ordered food and I didn’t want to put her off it,” the man said.
The trial has been adjourned until next Tuesday, when cross-examination is expected to resume before the 15-person jury.
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