The Kiama byelection has been set for Saturday 13 September. Photo: Chilby Photography.
The Kiama electorate will head to the polls on Saturday 13 September to elect their representative for state parliament, after former MP Gareth Ward’s resignation.
Ward tendered his eleventh-hour resignation on Friday 8 August shortly before the NSW Parliament was scheduled to table a motion to expel him.
On 25 July a jury found Ward guilty of four counts of sexual assault committed against two men in 2013 and 2015.
Ward was taken into custody on 30 July to await his sentencing for the offences in September.
From his jail cell Ward lodged an application to the Supreme Court to block his expulsion from the NSW Parliament; the court ultimately found the parliament was entitled to expel Ward to protect itself from being dragged into disrepute.
The Speaker of the NSW Legislative Assembly announced a byelection would be held in Kiama after he received Ward’s resignation, which left the seat without representation.
Today (12 August) the speaker announced the byelection will go ahead on 13 September.
Which way the Kiama electorate swings after the ordeal of the past five years is anyone’s guess.
Ward was originally elected as a Liberal MP for the seat in 2011, defeating incumbent Labor MP Matt Brown, who shortly before was forced to step down as police minister due to his behaviour at an event in Parliament House.
Before Mr Brown lost the seat, Kiama was held by Labor since 1981.
Ward was re-elected in 2015 and 2019 with small swings in his favour.
In 2020 he resigned from the Liberal Party and was temporarily suspended from parliament after he was charged with the sex offences he was eventually convicted of.
He ran as an independent candidate in the 2023 election and was re-elected by the people of Kiama, winning just shy of 39 per cent of the vote.
Ward’s support was strongest in the southern part of his electorate, around the North Nowra-Bomaderry area.
Ward had previously served as a councillor and deputy mayor on Shoalhaven City Council between 2004 and 2012; he ran as an independent, despite his Liberal Party membership.
In the 2023 election, northern parts of the electorate, such as Albion Park, skewed away from Ward and towards Labor.
NSW Premier Chris Minns said Labor would field a candidate in the upcoming byelection.
The Liberal Party has also announced it will field a candidate, with no word yet from other parties or independent candidates.
It is unknown who the Liberal candidate will be.
Nominations for candidates will close at noon on Thursday 28 August with early voting to begin on Saturday 6 September.
Enrolments to vote in the byelection must be submitted before 22 August.
