JENI O’DOWD: Gareth Ward, a convicted sex offender, should not still be an elected member of NSW Parliament

There’s something grotesque and almost dystopian about the fact that Gareth Ward, a convicted sex offender, is still an elected member of the NSW Parliament.

Last week, a jury unanimously found him guilty of one count of non-consensual intercourse and three counts of indecent assault involving two young men. One was just 18. The other 24.

Only in politics could someone be found guilty of sexual assault and still keep their job.

For the rest of us, the rules are brutal and immediate. A teacher? Suspended. A nurse? Stood down. A childcare worker? Don’t even go there. But an MP? He gets to hang around, pocket a taxpayer salary and wait it out while the sentencing process drags on and appeal rights are explored.

If Ward, 44, were a Labor or Liberal MP, he would have been expelled instantly. But he’s an independent, which means no party, no whip, no accountability and apparently, no shame.

Worse still, the law in NSW allows him to remain in Parliament until sentencing and appeals are finalised. And not just stay, but get paid. We are paying a convicted sex offender to represent us in Parliament.

You couldn’t make this up if you tried.

This is a gaping legal and political loophole. In WA, former Nationals MP James Hayward was disqualified shortly after being convicted of child sex offences. Hayward’s conviction was later quashed and prosecutors declined to continue with a retrial but his parliamentary privileges were not restored. The law in WA is blunt and effective: be convicted of a serious crime, and you’re out. No seat. No salary. No insult to the public.

At the Federal level, it’s the same. Under Section 44 of the Constitution, anyone convicted of a serious offence is disqualified from standing for Parliament. That’s what brought down Senator Rod Culleton in 2017.

He’d been convicted of larceny, over a missing tow truck key, of all things. Although that conviction was later annulled, the High Court ruled he was ineligible to be elected in the first place.

No appeals window. No parliamentary privilege. No wriggling out of it. He was never legally there to begin with.

Ward isn’t the first politician to be convicted of serious offences. The infamous Eddie Obeid? Convicted and served jail time. But he’d already resigned. Same with Ian Macdonald, another former NSW minister. Scott Driscoll, a former Queensland LNP MP turned independent, quit before fraud charges stuck.

So why hasn’t the law been strengthened? Gareth Ward is walking, talking, taxpayer-funded proof that MPs live by a different set of rules, especially if they fly solo.

And this isn’t even the first time the alarms have been ringing.

In July last year, Ward allegedly showed up at Parliament at 4am wearing nothing but a T-shirt and his underwear, apparently to retrieve a spare key after locking himself out of his home.

Premier Chris Minns called it “a major concern for workplace standards”. The ethics committee cleared him anyway.

In 2020, police found him wandering naked and disoriented outside his apartment. Twice. He blamed it on anaesthetic from a hospital visit. The optics? Terrible.

Then there was the “massage incident” in New York in 2017, where Ward claimed to have booked a standard massage at a Times Square hotel, only to be ambushed by two men claiming to be underage and demanding cash. He ran to the front desk and called the police. No charges were laid. But his credibility? Damaged.

Allegations of public nudity, blackmail scandals, sleepwalking naked through Potts Point, and now a conviction for sexual assault. And still — still — he sits in Parliament, drawing a salary and holding office.

After last week’s guilty verdict, the NSW Government called on him to resign immediately. Opposition Leader Mark Speakman agreed.

Premier Chris Minns said it was “ridiculous to be in a situation where someone has been not accused, not charged, but convicted of incredibly serious sexual assault convictions and stay as a member of Parliament”.

“You name me one workplace in the whole world where that person would continue to be an employee facing that kind of jail time,” he said.

Minns confirmed Parliament has the power to act, even before sentencing or appeal, and said the government would move to expel Ward.

Except Parliament isn’t sitting. It doesn’t resume until next Tuesday — 11 days after the guilty verdict. Eleven days where the law shrugs and taxpayers keep paying.

And whether Gareth Ward resigns this week, next week or has to be pried off the leather benches with a crowbar is beside the point.

The real scandal is that he is allowed to stay this long. If a convicted sex offender can keep his seat and his salary, what hope is there for real accountability?

It shouldn’t be up for debate. NSW needs to fix this. The NSW Constitution Act 1902 needs to be updated to ensure that a conviction for a serious crime results in automatic suspension and loss of pay, in line with the WA and Federal systems.

No delays. No appeals buffer. No special rules for MPs. There’s something rotten in a system that boots teachers for a bad tweet but lets a convicted sex offender sit in Parliament and collect a salary.

Minns and Speakman say Ward should go. Do it. And change the law before the next Gareth Ward comes along. Close the loophole.

Because if you can’t even get rid of a convicted sex offender in Parliament, don’t expect anyone to believe you can fix anything else.

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