The Sauce: Gareth Ward and Rory Amon spotted together on holiday in Perth

MP Gareth Ward, who is facing sex charges, and former MP Rory Amon, who left politics when he was charged with child sex offences, have been spotted together in Perth this holiday season.

Embattled Kiama MP Gareth Ward has left Sydney for the holiday season, appearing to have chosen to spend time in Perth with none other than former Liberal Pittwater MP Rory Amon, who is currently battling a slew of child sex offence charges.

Mr Ward was spotted on a sojourn through Claremont Quarter in Perth with Mr Amon and a senior NSW government bureaucrat last Sunday by a source connected to the three.

The Sauce heard from separate sources that Mr Ward had made known his intentions to spend the holiday season in Perth.

Mr Ward is currently awaiting trial for a string of offences including rape, indecent assault and common assault.

He has pleaded not guilty and has previously issued a statement strongly denying the allegations.

Kiama MP Gareth Ward.

Former Pittwater MP Rory Amon.

The former Liberal minister was suspended from the parliament in 2022 after the charges were laid, before being re-elected to the seat of Kiama as an independent in 2023.

Mr Amon, who is currently on bail for 10 charges, including sexual intercourse with a 13-year-old boy, was given permission by the courts to spend part of the summer holiday in Perth.

The 35-year-old has been allowed to skip his weekly bail reporting requirement while in Western Australia.

Mr Amon has vehemently denied any wrongdoing, declaring he would fight the charges in court.

Both Mr Amon and Mr Ward refused to comment on being spotted in Perth together and did not respond to questions about what they might be doing there.

The senior bureaucrat also refused to comment, saying he would neither confirm nor deny he was in Perth with Mr Ward and Mr Amon.

GOING IN TO BAT FOR THE PREMIER

Everyone knows social media can be a mean place, where well-meaning posts are met with a swell of negativity. Luckily for Premier Chris Minns, he has a staunch online defender in former Labor premier Morris Iemma.

An innocuous Facebook post from Mr Minns on Christmas Eve congratulating Hurstville local Sam Konstas on getting the call-up to the Australian cricket team for the Boxing Day Test received a barrage of criticism, with one Facebooker commenting: “A real state government doesn’t waste time posting feel-good pictures of people playing cricket or doing random community things”.

Former premier Morris Iemma (left) with current Premier Chris Minns at the funeral of Mr Minns’ father. Picture: Richard Dobson

Rushing to Mr Minns’ defence, Mr Iemma batted away the criticism.

“The kid and his family are constituents of his… support of your local community and constituents is exactly what MPs should do,” Mr Iemma posted.

“So how about parking your snarky, snarly backhanders for a split second and say something positive.”

And it didn’t stop there, with the former premier on the forward defensive on multiple negative comments.

When contacted by the Sauce, Mr Iemma said he wanted to set the record straight for the “clowns” lambasting Mr Minns for “highlighting a significant achievement of a local constituent”.

Linda Silmalis is on leave.