Independent Member for Kiama Gareth Ward will not be resuspended from parliament after a government committee reported doing so could have “serious and negative consequences.”

The NSW government’s parliamentary privileges committee released a report on Wednesday night detailing how the government can and should handle a scenario of when a member is suspended from parliament and then re-elected.

The report didn’t mention Mr Ward by name but presented a hypothetical scenario almost identical to that of Mr Ward’s. 

Mr Ward was hit with criminal charges last year, and was subsequently suspended from parliament, which barred him from voting on legislation. He pleaded not guilty and has stated he looks forward to demonstrating his innocence in court. Ward’s trial will take place in Sydney in April 2024

He was re-elected to parliament in the March 2023 state election but has continued to face scrutiny in parliament, with Premier Chris Minns refusing to answer any of Ward’s questions. He claimed it would be inappropriate until the privileges committee handed down its findings.

Now that those findings have been released to the public, it is highly unlikely that Ward will be re-suspended and will continue to represent the Kiama LGA in parliament once again.

The committee reported that suspending a re-elected member would have “serious and negative consequences.

The government would risk legal action if it suspended a member and allowed their constituents to go under-represented in parliament for a prolonged period of time.

According to the report, voters who re-elected a member with “full public knowledge of pending criminal charges” would be culpable of “repeated denial of the electorate being represented in the assembly by their chosen member.”

Parliament would also run the risk of compromising the presumption of innocence of a member by further demonising them before they’ve had their day in court.

Given no further charges have been laid since re-election, “the case for a further suspension may be regarded as weakened,” according to the report.

The report concluded that should parliament decide to suspend an elected member in the future, it should refer the matter to the privileges committee and “seriously consider the possible consequences and risks.”

Mr Ward welcomed the report’s findings while denouncing Premier Minns’ repeated refusal to answer any of his questions in parliament.

“This report highlights that the decision of my local community, who know me best, should be respected,” Mr Ward said in a statement.

“I have been completely appalled by the actions of Premier Chris Minns who has treated my constituents with utter contempt.”

“I don’t expect an apology from the Premier to me, but I believe he should apologise to my electorate of Kiama for his treatment of the issues I’ve raised and the decision they made to re-elect me as their local MP.”