NSW election: Liberals without candidate week before deadline, nominees fail NRC

The Liberal race for a south coast seat is in disarray after a nominee was rejected by the party’s secretive review committee. See why Chris Minns was told: “you will have my vote”.

An email sent by a Liberal Kiama nominee to Labor leader Chris Minns saying “you have my vote” has plunged the party into disarray in the south coast seat, forcing them to reopen nominations a week before the deadline.

Local poet and author Gail Morgan was the only Liberal nominee when the deadline passed earlier this month — but the internal Nominal Review Committee rejected her after emails to Mr Minns and comments about incumbentc Independent candidate Gareth Ward were brought to light.

It leaves the party scrambling for a candidate days before the March 8 registration deadline in a seat held by former Liberal-turned-independent Mr Ward, who moved to the crossbench in 2021 after he was subject to a child abuse inquiry.

Last year, he was charged with indecently assaulting a 17-year-old in 2013 and sexually abusing a 27-year-old man in 2015.

Mr Ward has denied all the allegations and pleaded not guilty to each charge in court.

He announced he’d contest the seat as an independent earlier in February.

From 2021, then-minister Gareth Ward (left) with Premier Dominic Perrottet. Picture: Flavio Brancaleone

In January, Premier Dominic Perrottet vowed the party would not only run a candidate against Mr Ward, but also win the seat — the latest development leaves that pledge floundering.

In a Nine News clip, when the charges against Mr Ward were laid, Ms Morgan – a close friend of the MP – told said the allegations were “a stitch up” and she “didn’t believe a word of it”.

Ms Morgan also sent an email to Mr Minns’ parliamentary office in March 2022, where she told the Opposition Leader “you will have my vote”.

“I’m a member of the Liberal Party and supported Gareth Ward,” she wrote to Mr Minns office in an email.

“If you can put processes in place to stop out-of-scale development, you will have my vote, and (the votes of) many others.”

Gail Morgan had nominated for the Libs in Kiama. Picture: Supplied

Liberal sources have called the situation a “mess”.

One local source said any candidate would be purely a “placeholder” and there was hesitancy in the party to run a strong campaign – or any at all – against the popular Mr Ward.

“He’s well liked in the community, people are sticking by him and refuting the allegations,” one senior Liberal source said.

Sources said any Liberal candidate would be to tick a box and act as a placeholder. Picture: Tim Hunter.

“With an independent Ward re-elected in Kiama the Liberals know they have his support – he will vote with them and in the case of a hung parliament, they can rely on him.”

The Liberal source suggested the party would “welcome Ward back into the fold immediately” if he was to be found not guilty — with questions being raised if a re-elected Dominic Perrottet would ban the MP from entering parliament in the next term of government while legal proceedings continued.

Any decision to ban Mr Ward from entering parliament would be a matter for the newly elected Legislative Assembly.

Another source said a team of “powerful party members” were determined to leave Kiama without a Liberal contestor, in an effort to secure the seat for the embattled, Independent incumbent Gareth Ward.

Anthony Albanese, Prime Minister of Australia joined Chris Minns, NSW Labor Leader and Katelin McInerney, NSW Labor Candidate for Kiama, for a street walk in Kiama NSW. Picture: NCA NewsWire.

It is understood ex-UAP member and candidate Ben Britton had filed nomination papers but was not granted a waiver to run by the state executive, given his previous candidacy for that party in May’s federal election, but it is understood he has since re-filed papers.

Labor unveiled their own candidate, journalist Kaitlin McInerney, last year.

On Friday, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese visited the seat to support Ms McInerney, and NSW Labor leader Chris Minns said on the same visit: “voters are going to have to choose very carefully who is representing them in Macquarie St”.

Deadlines for candidate registration with the NSW Electoral Commission is on March 8.

Ms Morgan was contacted but declined to comment.