He rots in jail for sex crimes, but this MP keeps his taxpayer-funded salary

In 2014, Kiama’s then-Liberal MP, Gareth Ward, now a convicted rapist, gave an impassioned condemnation of former Labor politician turned child sex offender Milton Orkopoulos, declaring that the one-time minister should “rot in prison”. No one would have disagreed with Ward. Orkopoulos was in jail for sexually abusing three teenage boys.

Ward name-checked one of Orkopoulos’ victims. “I am very fortunate to know somebody who not only works for me,” Ward told parliament, “but who also is a very close friend, Ben Blackburn. He was let down in so many respects by all of the people who should have protected him.”

Convicted sex offender and independent MP Gareth Ward arrives at Darlinghurst Court on Wednesday. Credit: Janie Barrett

Ward, who went on to be families minister in the Berejiklian government, said it would not have mattered from which side of politics Orkopoulos hailed. “He did monstrous things and deserves to rot in prison for it,” Ward said.

Now Ward has joined Orkopoulos in jail. One year before that speech to parliament, in 2013, Ward indecently assaulted an 18-year-old man on the South Coast. Then, a year after the speech, Ward raped a 24-year-old man at his Potts Point apartment following an event at Parliament House. The one-time Liberal powerbroker was found guilty on Friday of four sexual abuse charges involving the two young men. He met both men through his position in politics.

The guilty verdict stunned many of Ward’s former Liberal colleagues, largely because of his shameless bravado. Ward was so confident that he would be found not guilty that he contested the 2023 state election as an independent – and won. He also sat the exam to be admitted as a barrister of the Supreme Court.

Perhaps the most extraordinary aspect of the whole sorry saga is that, as of Wednesday this week, despite having his bail discontinued and being detained, Ward remains the MP for Kiama, complete with a taxpayer-funded salary. And there are no rules stopping this.

His office in Kiama has been shut since last week, and his neighbouring Labor MP, Anna Watson in Shellharbour, has been fielding calls from Kiama residents whose elected representative is now locked up.

Labor wants him gone, as does the Coalition. In trademark Ward style, he is digging in. That will be in vain because when parliament returns next week, the lower house will use its extraordinary powers to expel him.

Being convicted of a crime that is punishable by five years or more in prison means you are booted from your seat. But constitutional law expert Professor Anne Twomey explains on her YouTube channel that under changes to the state’s constitution in 2000, conviction is considered to mean “once you have reached the end of the appeals process, if you choose to appeal, and not had the conviction overturned”. (Those still in contact with Ward say he is defiant and will appeal.)

Twomey’s video details how rare it is for MPs to continue in their role after being charged, let alone convicted, of a crime. On just a couple of occasions over the past 100 years, MPs have stuck around only for their seat to be declared vacant once they have been convicted. That said, parliament does have the power to expel an MP for “unworthy conduct”.

A high bar, but if ever there was unworthy conduct for an MP, it is being found guilty of sex offences.

There is an oft-used phrase in politics: the voters never get it wrong. And in the case of Ward, he was known as one of the most effective local members in parliament. His work ethic was impressive, and he delivered for his electorate, which must be why the voters of Kiama were prepared to return him to parliament in 2023 with serious criminal charges already hanging over his head.

Equally, the presumption of innocence is one of the most important principles underpinning society, and Ward had every right to that presumption. However, what his fall from grace does starkly show is that parliament is a workplace like no other, where different standards apply to our elected representatives.

Take, for example, the behaviour of maverick MP Mark Latham. While Latham has not broken any laws (despite accusations to the contrary by his ex-girlfriend, which he denies), his conduct would not be tolerated in any other modern workplace.

Where else, for example, would a male employee be able to take covert photos of female colleagues and get away with it by simply apologising? What other workplace would find it acceptable to make a sex tape in your office? Similarly, thanks to the protection of parliamentary privilege, Latham can use the upper house to make all sorts of vicious attacks against people without any repercussions.

If voters “never get it wrong”, our elected officials often do. Latham revels in pushing boundaries that would see him sacked in any other profession. And Ward continues to collect his taxpayer-funded salary as lawmaker, while in jail. That is inconceivable.

Alexandra Smith is state political editor.

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