NSW MP Gareth Ward has denied being drunk outside Parliament House at 4am on July 21, saying he was trying to retrieve his spare key after accidentally locking himself out of his apartment.
The Daily Telegraph reported on a parliamentary security report which alleged Ward smelled of alcohol, was wearing a “t-shirt, underwear and socks” and had a gash on his head when he arrived at the building that morning.
The Independent MP for Kiama, who is before the courts on a series of alleged sex offences, said the imputation that he was drunk was both wrong and defamatory.
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Ward explained he had been woken up to a noise at his apartment and locked himself out of his home.
“Given it was freezing at around 4am in July, with no prospect of getting a locksmith, not having my phone and with my property around eight minutes walk/jog to Parliament, I went to Parliament to get my spare key,” he said in a statement.
“I did not see anyone in Parliament other than a security guard who gave me access to the building.”
Ward said he will not make any further comment, adding “this is this sort of gutter journalism that sees faith in some journalists fall to an all-time low”.
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Ward began his political career at the age of 22, when he was elected councillor for the Shoalhaven City Council in 2004.
He spent years in local council before becoming the first Liberal MP for Kiama in 2011.
In 2019, he was sworn in as NSW Minister for Families, Communities and Disability Services under former premier Gladys Berejiklian.
Ward was charged with a number of sex offences against a teenage boy and a man, which he denies, in 2022.
He moved to the crossbench before he was suspended from parliament. He returned the following year when he was re-elected as Kiama MP.
Ward has pleaded not guilty and will be in court for his trial next year.
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